


She's odd like that.

by Emloy



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: BUT LOVELY, College AU, Dina's POV, Ellie - Freeform, Ellie is a a bit odd, F/F, I'm sorry Jesse, Slow Burn, alternative universe, dina - Freeform, it's just cute and fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25308154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emloy/pseuds/Emloy
Summary: Dina and Jesse have been in a quite normal relationship for over a year now. But Dina has yet to get to know Jesse's best friend - a girl named Ellie. Who seems to avoid meeting Dina at any cost.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 240
Kudos: 912





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, hello there.
> 
> I'm a bit (super) new to this, but i couldn't help myself. The pairing is so god damn cute. I just had to try writing something. Well. 
> 
> I'm a big fan of AU-Stories. It's always super interesting to see how especially fantasy characters adapt to a more normal life. If they fit in. How relationships change, etc. 
> 
> So my characters may differ a bit from the original, due to AU, and because i'm not that good of a writer, I apologize. Still, I remember finding fanfics to less popular pairings with not so perfect writing but such nice ideas -arggh. And i loved them. So. Please just give it a try. I hope you might like it. 
> 
> Enough rambling. 
> 
> Have a nice day everyone. o/

__________________________  
Tuesday - week 1

“Wow, did you try to catch the ball with your face?” Dina laughed when she caught sight of her boyfriend, who was currently pressing a cooling bag to one side of his face, his unruly hair falling into his eyes as he pouts.

“Ha ha.” He rolled his eyes at this comment. “It’s not from the practice.” 

Her hands reached for the cooling bag, removing it a few inches from his face to look at his swollen cheek. 

“Huuh.” Dina didn’t expect that. Jesse normally wasn’t the type of person to get into fights. Which could only mean..

“Ellie and I, uh, we had a ...disagreement?” Jesse offered a bit sheepishly when Dina didn’t speak for several seconds. She nodded absentmindedly, more like a gesture of showing that she was listening.

_Right._ Jesse wouldn’t normally get into fights. But when his so-called best friend “Ellie” was involved, well, everything seemed to get unpredictable. But until now they always had ended up on the same side of the fight as far as she been told.

“Wait, she did that?” Dina blinked a few times as she looked back and forth between his eyes and his swollen cheek, before softly pressing the cooling bag back against his skin. “How the hell did that happen?” 

Jesse winced shortly at the sudden contact before muttering something like “She’s odd like that.” without any further explanation.

Dina never understood what the deal was between those two. Jesse seemed to like to hang out a lot with Ellie, there was not one week when they did not see each other. At first she had been a bit jealous, when she asked some of his friends if there was something between Jesse and this Ellie-girl she always got the same response: laughs and denial and “Absolutely not.”. 

But even though Dina was his girlfriend for solid 14 months now, she had yet to meet his best friend. She had tried to convince Jesse so many times that they could all hang out together, or that he at least would introduce her his best friend over lunch in the cafeteria, but Jesse always refused. Telling her that Ellie had absolute no interest in meeting her and whatsoever. That she liked to stay for herself, that she wasn’t very social, or his more recent phrase “That she is odd like that.”

They had fought about this quite a few times now, often leaving Dina pouting as she wasn’t getting anything out of him. It annoyed her to no end, but eventually she had to let it drop.

  
  


__________________________  
Friday - Week 1

Dina was pissed. And wow, not just a bit. Jesse just told her that he didn’t know she wanted to spend this evening together, and thus he had made other plans. “I can have a girlfriend and friends.” he had said, clearly annoyed at her attitude. Which would be alright - really, completely alright. Dina was not trying to keep him to herself. He was allowed to go out with friends.

But they had their “Netflix and Chill”-Evening every friday night for the last two months now, so she did not expect that she had to tell him each week that yes, this friday as well. 

Apparently going out with the boys of the soccer team he joined a few weeks ago - and who he saw every day now- was much more important than an evening with his girlfriend - who stayed at the dorms to spend time with him instead of going home to her parents for the few weeks that they didn’t had and college classes.

When her immediate anger had cooled down a bit, she felt lonely. He was just trying to fit in with a new group of friends, well a team, that was probably not that simple. Honestly she didn’t know. All her friends were home or had planned some fancy vacation. Truth was, she stayed here for Jesse and now he had other plans. Maybe it had been her own fault. Maybe she should have asked to tag along. 

_ No, no, nonono.  _

She shook her head as if answering someone’s question. _No depressing thoughts now._ She was right to be mad at Jesse, she told herself. 

Time to find an ally. Because if his still-swollen cheek was any indication there should be at least one other person out there who is currently staying at the campus and is mad at Jesse.

A girl named Ellie. 

  
  


__________________________

  
“Oh, yeah, sure, just saw her.” A tall guy with very short hair answered, pointing in the direction where he had last seen Ellie. He told her to look for a red haired girl, and that she had her guitar with her so she should be easy to find.

Dina wondered briefly why she didn’t try this method sooner. That one or just calling her. She had snatched her number from Jesse a few weeks prior but eventually came to the conclusion that calling a stranger could get very weird very quickly - and she did not want to make a weird first impression should they ever befriend each other for Jesse’s sake. She had always been curious about what kind of person Ellie was. Apparently a very aggressive, moody one - if she could believe the little snippets of information she got from Jesse. 

While the center of the campus had been quite crowded, considering that classes would not start for another few weeks, the directions Dina had received lead her to a very calm part.

A few trees would cast shadows bigger than their original size as the sun was setting slowly, and while the campus center was still lively this place already seemed to get ready for the night. Very few students passed her as she followed the only path through grass and in between a few trees, but no one was carrying any instrument. Maybe Ellie had already left. She looked around and saw no one else, and was about to leave when she heard a few mismatched guitar chords.

Leaving the only path here Dina followed the sounds of the guitar until she saw someone sitting in the grass, leaning against a tree, obviously not bothered by the absence of any benches here. She simply sat in the dirt with her dark jeans and green flannel.

Dina wasn’t sure what exactly she had expected. Maybe someone broad person, with a constant scowl to their face. She always wondered why Jesse spend so much time with Ellie when she sounded so rude and moody and mean. Well, she certainly did not look like that. She looked incredibly calm. Long arms holding a black guitar close to her body. Her fingers idly stroking the chords as she obviously did not pay any attention to what she was playing. Her gaze was lost somewhere in the woods but Dina didn’t think that she was actually watching something.

With small steps Dina approached her, nervously biting her lip as she had never spend any time on thinking what to say to Ellie when they actually meet. So when their eyes met, and Ellie’s hands stopped moving, and she looked up at Dina with an unreadable expression, Dina didn’t know what to do other than..

“Hey.” _Yep, super creative._

“..Hey.” Her voice was cautious, and soft. Her eyes never left Dina’s and Dina had a hard time combining the things she heard about her with the person currently in front of her. Hopefully she even found the right person, “red hair and guitar” was not that specific. Well, the fading blue on her knuckles was a good hint. Ellie must have realized what Dina was looking at since her right hand suddenly let go of the strings, fingers slowly clenching and unclenching in a loose fist as she surveyed the healing process of her knuckles.

“You’re Ellie?” Dina asked with her friendliest smile. And received a weird combination of a shrug and a nod as an answer. Ellie was still watching her, intensely so. She was clearly confused by Dina’s presence, her head tilting ever so slightly as she was trying to understand the situation. A loose red strand fell into her face, not long enough to fit in the small ponytail but Ellie made no effort to put it back behind her ear. 

She was just watching Dina, then her brows furrowed, and her gaze fell back to her guitar. Suddenly clearly avoiding eye contact.

“..You’re Dina.” That wasn’t a question. But Dina nodded anyway, well, not that it made any difference. Ellie wasn’t looking at her anymore. There was a long pause but before Dina could have asked any of the thousand questions that just appeared in her head Ellie spoke again. “Does Jesse know where you are?”

_ Ok, make that two thousand new questions. _

“Uh..What?” _Yea, not the best choice._ A clearly confused Dina shook her head slowly. “No, bu-”

“He won’t like that, you know.” While her voice was still soft, she was clearly trying not to raise ts volume, basically forcing it to stay calm, tons of emotions were conveyed with that sentence. Anger, rage, nearly visible when her hands grip the guitar a bit more closely and her knuckles turning white. And...then there was hurt.

“He doesn’t want us to meet.” Dina concluded. She had kind of figured out as much, but her voice still sounded confused when she said it out loud. Gods, of course it’s confusing! That doesn’t make sense at all! “I don’t get this!” She snapped even though she knew that Ellie should not be the target for her confused anger. “ Why?”

Ellie swallowed and looked back at the woods, and the few seconds of silence felt like an eternity, before Ellie finally spoke again.

“He doesn’t trust me.” she said, whispered. Anger gone, but realisation and hurt clearly there. Dina figured it must have been the first time as well that Ellie said her thoughts out loud. “He doesn’t trust me with you.”

“Why?” Dina had contemplated for a moment if she should just make a joke about how Ellie doesn’t look like she’d hurt her, but the blue-ish knuckles came her sight again, and she had to tell herself that obviously there was a reason behind that punch, it wasn't just that Ellie was “odd like that.”

“Because -” she stopped herself there, clearly unsure if she should tell Dina the reasons, but then released a long breath, leaned back against the tree and looked at her guitar again. 

“It doesn’t matter.” She basically huffed. 

Dina didn’t know what to say then, but she didn’t had to. Ellie’s fingers resumed her movements, stroking the chords on the guitar without greater purpose. 

“You should leave.” She said, not looking up at Dina again.

  
  


__________________________  
Thursday - Week 2

“Look..Dina..” Her sister's voice was shallow, as if she was crying. Dina briefly wondered if it had something to do with her sisters fiancé. Wouldn't be the first time they fight, but normally her sister doesn’t come to her with these kinds of problems. 

“Dad, he-” A pause. “There, there was an accident. He’s... “ A sob. “They brought him right to hospital but- Oh, Dina. No one can tell us anything.” Another sob. “I think it’s bad.”

The call didn't even last 3 minutes but was very much enough to leave behind a very distressed Dina. Feeling completely helpless, useless, alone. So many miles between her and her family. Leaving home to go to college suddenly seemed like to most stupid idea Dina ever had. She had to see them. Now.

She immediately called her boyfriend. He had a car. They could be home in 4 hours. Come on, Jesse! Pick up! I need you now!

Five calls.

No response.

Other options, come on Dina, other options, there has to be something!

It’s between terms right now. Most of her friend are either enjoying their holiday on some beach or went home to, well, wherever that is. The only reason she had stayed in the dorms was because of Jesse - who still did not answer any of her calls.

That leaves one person.

“...Hello?” A very sleepy Ellie answered the phone and Dina had to bite back a sob. Finally someone had answered any of her calls. Even if she barely knew this person at all.

“Ellie.. It’s Dina.” She was trying to keep her voice steady but apparently she wasn’t very convincing if the sudden rustling of sheets that could be heard was any indication. 

“Dina.” Ellie’s voice sounding a lot more awake now, and alert. “What’s wrong?”

“I.. my dad..it’s- ” Frustrated at her own stuttering Dina let out a long breath. “Do you have a license?” Gods, Ellie must think she’s gone mad. Her free hand was shaking as her fingers combed through her hair nervously. She scolded herself that she didn’t think of what to say before she dialed her number. Her mind was racing. You have to say something or Ellie might just end the call. It’s two in the morning. She barely knows you. She never gave you her number, you just peaked in Jesse’s phone. But before she could try to explain herself again, Ellie spoke.

“Where are you right now?” The sound of a zipper could be heard through the phone and Dina nearly couldn’t believe it. Ellie was actually dressing herself. She would come over. Ellie would help her. She tried to wipe the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand as she told Ellie her dorms address.

A few minutes later Dina was standing outside of the dorms complex. A little backpack on her shoulders that had been hastily filled with everything she deemed important. Her phone, a charger, her wallet, a thin cardigan. It would have been her first choice to wear, but “Grab a warm jacket.” Ellie had said and Dina complied, slightly confused, though when a motorcycle stopped a few feet from her, Dina understood why. 

Ellie didn’t look too tired, thankfully, but very much worried. Her green eyes searched Dina’s face for answers. The dark haired girl could feel new tears creeping into her vision, and a slender hand reaching for her own, pulling her closer. Closer. Until she was engulfed in a warm hug. Strong but slender arms resting on her shoulder and around her waist. 

In other circumstances Dina might have payed more attention to Ellie. How unexpectingly tall she was, and how strong she was. And maybe she would have think that it was odd that her hug was so warm and reassuring, but she didn’t. Dina clung to Ellie’s hoodie and for the first time ever since she heard the news of her father’s accident she actually allowed her tears to flow, and she cried. Telling Ellie everything she knew about the situation between sobs. 

  
  


__________________________  
Thursday - Week 2

Ellie had been right. 

The warm jacket was definitely needed. Sitting on a motorcycle for a few hours straight in the middle of the night was a cold experience. No matter the weather. But that didn’t matter to Dina. She was on her way to her family. To her father. Hopefully he is...Her arms around Ellie tighten for the hundredth time, when she once again willed her mind away from any negative thoughts. 

If Ellie minded being squeezed without any explanation every few minutes she did not let it show. She was concentrated on the road. Keeping an healthy mixture between safety and speed to bring Dina to her destination. The streets were pretty empty at these hours, and even though they covered the distance quite fast it still took over four hours before Dina’s hometown finally appeared on some street signs. 

The sun was peeking out over the horizon when they reached the parking lot of the hospital. It was barely after 7 am. Dina jumped off and instantly started to run for the entrance, or tried to, instantly tripping with her first step. If Ellie hadn’t caught her upper arm in time she would have met the hard concrete with her face since her legs weren’t cooperating with her mind right away after the long ride. 

They had barely spoken on the way here.

Sometimes Ellie would have asked for directions and Dina would have given a short answer but that was that. All in all ever since they met they might have exchanged about ten full sentences. And, admittedly, half of those were sobbed into the taller girls shoulder when Dina had cried her eyes out a few hours earlier. 

They had met once.

They had barely spoken to one another.

They basically did not know another.

And still.. when the nurse at the entrance started to search through the files to find information about Dina’s father and Dina’s panic was so clearly visible, Ellie had reached for her hand. And was softly squeezing it, not letting go. Even when they followed the nurse down the corridors of the quiet hospital. Dina had never been more grateful to have anybody around. 

It was Dina who let go of Ellie’s hand. When she had spotted her mother and her sister sitting on two of three little metallic chairs in the small corridor, as close as they were allowed to the operation room her father was currently in. And she immediately started running towards them, hugging her mother as tightly as possible, clinging to her for dear life. Her mom was whispering sweet reassurances in Dina’s hair as she was crying.

It wasn’t after she had calmed down again a few minutes later and looked around that she realized that Ellie was not here anymore. Her mother seemed to notice that, but her interpretation was not quite right. 

“Are you looking for Jesse?” she asked softly. 

All Dina could do was shaking her head.

Dina sat down on the last chair, next to her mother, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. She did not catch a single minute of sleep that night after all. But she couldn’t sleep now either. Waiting like this will be even worse. Part of her wanted to be back on the motorcycle again where she could hide her face against Ellie’s strong back. 

Her hands were still cold from the ride and she was rubbing them together until a white plastic cup appeared in her vision, steaming with what seemed to be hot tea. She stared at it for a few heartbeats before looking up at the person standing next to her. 

Ellie. Who was awkwardly hugging a water bottle and two small paper bags with one arm while offering the tea to her. 

“You need that.” Ellie explained, her voice as soft as ever when Dina had yet to take the cup from her. Her cold hands curled around the warm tea when she thanked Ellie with a tired murmur that was hopefully loud enough. 

One of the paper bags was placed on Dina’s thighs, well, since there weren’t any tables in sight. And Dina watched with great interest as Ellie passed the water bottle and the second bag to her mother who looked just as surprised as Dina felt. It was her sister who actually thanked Ellie with proper words before taking a much needed sip from the water bottle. 

Ellie only nodded before sitting down on the floor in front of Dina, crossed her legs and pulled Dina’s feet into her lap as she looked up at the dark haired girl. It was a weird gesture and Jesse words ran through her head yet again. “She is odd like that.” But they didn’t have the malice any longer. Ellie’s “odd” was no longer a bad thing to Dina.

She could feel her ankles being squeezed softly when as Ellie was trying to bring her back to reality from spacing out.

“You ok?”

Dina looked down into her cup of tea when she shook her head slowly, answering honestly. Ellie nodded once, and one of her thumbs started stroking Dinas ankle absentmindedly as they waited for any news for the doctors.

  
  


__________________________

About an hour had passed when Ellie’s phone rang, well, vibrated. Dina couldn’t help but being curious as she watched the taller girl pulling out her phone, a photo of broad man and a blonde little girl both smiling happily in the camera was all over the screen, the name “Old man” blinking furiously with each vibration.

“Yea.” She answered tiredly.

Even though the corridor was quiet and Ellie’s phone was the only noise to be heard, Dina could only hear small parts of their conversation. The voice of a man calmly explained something to Ellie that made her rub Dina’s ankle with her free hand a bit more nervously.

“...this morning.. Maria.. lot of work.. Tommy.. useless..” Ellie hummed at that last part. 

“Would help if you could come home earlier.”

Dina noticed that Ellie nodded even though whoever was on the phone would never see that. “I’ll come. Gimme 3 hours.” 

There was another answer at that.

“Yea.” Ellie said looking up at Dina. “I’m kinda halfway there. Long story.” 

Pause. “Uh. Yea. See you later.”

Ellie didn’t hurry when she stuffed her phone back into her hoodie. Or when she got up. That was a good sign. At least no emergency on her part, Dina concluded as Ellie was dusting herself of.

She didn’t have to say that she had to leave now, all of them could have probably gather that much from her part of the conversation. She didn’t have to say anything at all and Dina half expected her to just leave with a nod. But she didn’t. She stood in front of Dina for a few heartbeats, just looking down at her with an unreadable expression, brows furrowed. 

“Keep me updated?” She asked nearly shyly, and Dina smiled just a little bit despite the situation. It was nice to know that she actually cared. 

“I will.” She promised with no hesitation. “Drive safe.” Ellie nodded. And left.

__________________________  
Saturday - week 3

Ten days after the accident, Dina’s father was still not released from the hospital but had been through so much successful surgery that he was only kept in one of the rooms for observation and a better medication for whenever he would be in pain. The car accident had left him with two broken legs, but he was told to expect a full recovery. All the goods news, however small snippets of information she obtained from the doctors, everything was immediately texted to Ellie. Who always answered. Although in very short messages.

Dina stayed at her family home. Classes wouldn’t start for another few weeks and she didn’t want to return to the campus just for Jesse - who hadn’t called her until the very evening of that dreadful day. Needless to say that Dina was not happy about that.

She often compared him to her sister’s fiancé who came running into the hospital a bit after Ellie left, hugging his tired and sad girlfriend and did not let go of her until they had been told that everything will be alright. 

Dina often wished that Jesse was a bit more like that. More active, more caring, or, at least by her side in this situation. But maybe they weren’t together long enough. Maybe Dina was just clingy. Maybe that intense feeling of care was something that developed when given enough time. Still, she messaged him every evening, telling him about her dad's healing process and some smaller information of the rest of her family, how her sister is planning to marry in a few weeks and how she kind of missed the quiet life of a smaller town. He would always answer late at night since he had training in the evenings. That didn’t stop her from writing a message every evening though.

Every evening. Except yesterday. Because when she had arrived at home from the hospital she was sure that Jesse had still training with the rest of the team and she wanted to call him, to actually talk to someone apart from her mother and sister. But then, she had fallen asleep early. And the lack of any messages from Jesse that evening and the following day had her slightly discouraged. 

She was in her room, at her window, her windowsill big enough to sit on it with outstretched legs. Looking outside as a harsh wind rippled through the trees when her phone buzzed. Two words. Two very short words. Even if the name would not have been displayed there Dina would have known whose message that was, she smiled.

Ellie [19:27]: you ok?

Well, she hadn’t send a message to Ellie yesterday either. 

And then, for the first time, she decided to call Ellie.

“..Hey.” Ellie said cautiously, clearly a bit confused. 

“Hey.” Dina greeted warmly, pleasantly surprised that the other girl had picked up that quickly. “I hope you don’t mind me calling you without any immediate reason?”

Dina could hear a relieved breath on the other side. “No. No, not at all.”

As expected, Ellie didn’t talk very much, but Dina didn’t mind her short responses in the slightest as she told her pretty much everything that occured in the last few days. When she checked the time she was surprised to see that they had been talking for over an hour already - well, she did the talking, but .. Dina was about to apologize for her rambling when Ellie began to talk about her home.

Up until now she had never heard the tall girl say more than one sentence as an answer and she quickly noticed that Ellie had a very beautiful voice for telling longer stories. Dina rested her head against the glass of the window, listening as Ellie told her about a woman named Maria who gave birth to a healthy baby boy one day after her own father’s accident.

And about Tommy - Maria’s husband who had a sawmill in a small village called Jackson and Ellie was helping out there when she was back home. Dina could practically see Ellie carry large trunks of wood like they weight nothing and smiled at the picture in her head.

“Dina?” Ellie’s voice pulled her back to reality, making Dina realize that she actually spaced out while Ellie was talking. 

“Yea, yea, i’m here.” she answered a little bit too quick and she could hear a weird mixture between a chuckle and a humm coming from Ellie. 

“Go to bed.” Ellie said ever so softly. And when Dina lifted her head from where it was leaning against the window she realized that she was indeed quite tired. 

“Mh hm. I will.” Though she didn’t feel like ending the call at all. She chewed on her lip for a few moments. “Good night.” she finally said. “Talk to you tomorrow?”

“I’d like that.”

  
  


__________________________  
Tuesday - Week 4

Just after lunch, an unexpected knock at the front door had the small family confused. Since her sister’s fiancé was the mostly likely option, Linda, Dina’s sister went to open the door. 

“Jesse.” 

Well, that was unexpected. Linda brought him into the kitchen, Dina’s mother asked if he wanted to eat lunch. But he refused claiming he just wanted to talk to Dina. 

“How’s your dad?” He asked awkwardly as he sat down on Dina’s bed. 

“Better.” Her one word reply reminded her of Ellie though she honestly did not know what else to say. For the first week she was constantly keeping him updated in every detail and it felt like he was not that interested.

“Mh hm.” he hummed, watching her as she leaned against her desk instead of joining him on the bed. There obviously was something else he wanted to discuss so she waited patiently.

Eventually he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands rubbing together nervously as he looked up at her through his bangs. “Ok.” he breathed out, clearly making a decision. 

“How did you get here that night?”

“What..?” Dina did not even try to conceal her confusion. From all the things he could have said, she never expected anything like that. “How I ..what.”

“Well it wasn’t me. And April was visiting her mom,” One of Dina’s closest friends in college, ”and the team was with me, and..how.”

Her fists clenched as she tried to calm herself, forcing her voice to stay low as she answered. There was no reason to fight about that now. “I asked someone else because you didn’t picked up your damn phone.”

He was clearly not happy with that “answer” but she couldn’t care less as she folded her arms in front of her chest, waiting for an explanation.

“Ellie.” He eventually concluded, watching her reaction. Whatever expression she had seemed to confirm his suspicion. “Ellie brought you here!” He exclaimed gesturing wildly with his hands. 

“And when, exactly, did you plan on telling me this?!”

“How the hell is that important!” 

“God dammit! Because- Because she’s gay! And she thinks you’re goddamn beautiful!” He spat out, making it sound as an insult, as if it was the most horrible thing in the world to say.

And she suddenly could hear Ellie’s words from their first meeting again. “He doesn’t trust me with you.” And the hurt she could clearly make out in Ellie’s voice. 

She wanted to scream at him, partly because he thought that she would cheat on him with his best friend, because Dina had never been interested in any other girl before, and partly because she wanted to stand up for Ellie who had been no doubt on the same end of the very same conversation a few weeks prior - because she called Dina beautiful. A thought that - oddly enough - actually did affect Dina. 

“You’re completely overreacting.” She said as calmly as she could, but that didn’t stop him from puffing his cheeks.

“You’re my girlfriend!” Emphasis on my. 

She wished he would act on that statement a bit more often. And slowly tears clouded her vision as she thought about how much she would have wanted him by her side in the last two weeks, and how he barely answered any of her calls. 

“Well.” she said with a sniff. “Let’s change that.”

  
  


__________________________  
Friday - week 6

The term had started again. Dina was back at the college. Dina’s father was back at home. Her friends were back from whatever holiday they had been enjoying and the routine of the college life came back easily to Dina. 

Not dating Jesse anymore had been a bit of an adjustment as she missed having someone around to lean into at any given time and spending their nights cuddling on the small couch in his just as small apartment. 

What she absolutely did not miss was having someone to talk to. Her little group of friends was back in town and with more free time they practically spend every minute together that wasn’t scheduled by the college. And then there was Ellie. Even though her father was well again, Dina was still texting with Ellie everyday. 

Apparently Ellie and Jesse had also some kind of “talk” again. That kind of talk that left Jesse with a blue and swollen eye and Ellie with a few stitches in her right eyebrow. How exactly that happened Dina didn’t know, but after that they seemed fine - oddly enough.

But she had to admit, reading about that in a text message and actually seeing the stitches was a big difference. If possible it only made Ellie look more though. Stronger. And a small part of Dina liked it actually. 

“That looks like it fucking hurt.” Dina observed eloquently as she sat down on a small blanket next to Ellie in the small park on the campus. When she heard that Ellie would sit here quite often Dina had just decided to invite herself to join her.

“Actually, not really.”

“Yeah, sure, superhero.”

“Mh hm.” Ellie hummed, and shrugged. Her hand stroking the chords of the guitar idly as she watched Dina getting comfortable, as if this was some usual meeting between those two and not just the third time they’ve seen each other.

“Can you actually play that thing?” Dina joked as she watched the red head’s finger move, brushing over the strings, making them vibrate with similar missmatched tones like the first time they’ve met. Half convinced that Ellie was just teasing her by doing that.

“That would require effort on my part.” Ellie said with a sly smile.

Dina leaned back on the blanket, the last rays of the sun warming her face as she closed her eyes and just listened to whatever “music” Ellie was playing. Before rolling to her side, watching Ellie. It was strange how comfortable she could feel around Ellie. How much she liked her presence. 

It was not the time that Jesse’s words filled her thoughts. “Because she’s gay!” And not for the first time Dina asked herself if that is supposed to be bad thing. Ellie was tall, seemed to be quite strong, and even if she was very short with words she could be incredibly caring through her gestures. 

Dina could certainly imagine girls falling for Ellie. Her mind began to wander, trying to imagine what Ellie’s type could be, what her previous girlfriends could have been like, what her current girlfriend would be like. Was she in a relationship right now? Her fists clenched at that thought. 

Green eyes found her brown ones, looking at her inquisitively. 

“So you just like..playing the guitar? Like that? Without effort?” Dina quickly picked up the topic from before.

The chords stopped. “Do you mind?”

“No, no not all.”

“It calms me.” Ellie offered, continuing her actions. ”I just like the sounds.” 

Dina wanted to ask what was wrong, if Ellie was upset right now. If she could help her. 

But then Ellie started to play a soft melody. Beautiful, calm and relaxing.

And she watched Ellie with a smile, who smiled back while brushing her fingers over the strings in seemingly effortless motions.

  
  


__________________________  
Thursday - week 9

The autumn air was cold when Dina arrived back at her family's house this evening and she let out a satisfied breath when the rooms were warm and busy. Linda, Dina’s sister would get married this saturday and her mom were hurrying through the house making all kinds of preparations. 

Dina who was pretty tired from her trip here and did not know how to help her mother with anything right now. So she made her way to her room silently, letting herself fall onto the mattress, only bothering to kick off her shoes before pulling her feet on the bed as well.

Apparently she had been tired enough to fall asleep like that because when she opened her eyes again the entire house was dark and quiet. Nothing could be heard but the buzzing of her phone which had most probably woken her up just a few seconds ago.

When she looked at the screen she saw Ellie’s name.

A call.

Ellie was calling her in the middle of the night.

She sat up quickly, suddenly very much awake and answered the call as quickly as possible.

“Ellie?”

“..Dina.” Ellie’s voice was breathless, as if she had just ran a great distance and Dina could hear her taking some shaky breaths. “..Sorry.” 

Dina did not know what to say, stamming something like “No s’alright.” And trying to ask what was wrong. But Ellie was faster.

“Could you just.. talk?” When Dina didn’t answer right away a quiet “Please?” nearly broke her heart. 

Her breaths were short and flat and irregular. Ellie must be having some sort of panic attack or was in shock, fuck, she could only hope that the other girl wasn’t injured or something. She didn’t dare to ask what had triggered it. 

“Breathe Ellie.” She begged softly. “I’m right here.” Dina’s hands were shaking, her voice was probably too. “I’m here for you, breath for me.”

So she began to tell Ellie about the marriage preparations, about how she thought that Linda’s dress was beautiful and how her mother was so proud. Ellie calmed down slowly but that didn’t stop her from talking. She didn’t look at the time, or for how long she was talking. At some point she didn’t even care anymore what she saying anymore. It didn’t matter. 

“I’m sorry.” Ellie said after some time, a bit less shaken but sounding incredibly tired.

“No, don’t.” Dina bit her lip. “Please don’t apologize.” 

There was no answer but Ellie’s breathing. A lot more steady, Dina noticed, that was good, right? Dina’s grip on her phone tightened as she felt so powerless in this situation. For all she knew Ellie could be crying right now. Or had been. The mental picture of a tearful Ellie made her heart sink and hurt. She wanted nothing more than to hug her right now.

“I’d like that.” Ellie admitted in a quiet whisper and Dina realized she must have said that last part out loud, but she didn’t mind. She remembered sobbing into Ellie’s shoulder as she had hold her close. How strong and warm she felt. She wondered if she could give Ellie a similar feeling of safety. Right now, being with Ellie was all she wanted. Admitting it was easier than she had thought.

“Mh hm.” Dina hummed. And a long silence followed that had her drawing patterns into the fabric of her pillow as she bit her lip, thinking of what to say. Her heart hammered in her chest, the silence suddenly feeling more intimate than any call they ever had.

“I wish you were here.” Ellie whispered. But she might as well had screamed the words. The impact on Dina would have been the same.

“Yeah.” Dina didn’t know how she managed to answer. “Me too.” But it was the truth. “I wish you were here.”

__________________________  
Friday - week 9

In the early afternoon of the next day, Ellie was there.

Occasionally checking the window to the street Dina was waiting for her mother to arrive at home. Plans were to cook dinner with her before her sister and her fiancé come home. Bt it wasn’t her mothers car that caught her attention. It was Ellie. Dina had seen her motorcycle coming to stop in front of her house from the window on the first floor. Never before had she hurried down the few stairs like that. The front door was open before the taller girl had even a chance to knock.

And then they stood there. Frozen. One, maybe two feet apart. Just staring at each other. Ellie looked incredibly tired, and a little sheepishly as if silently contemplating whether or not she now had crossed any boundaries by coming here unannounced just like that. Dark circles under her green eyes reminded Dina of their call last night and then suddenly moving became easy again. 

Dina crossed the distance, wrapping her arms around the lean but strong body in front of her, pressing her face against Ellie’s shoulder. A few heartbeats passed, then eventually Ellie’s arms came up to hold her as well. Hugging her. 

Hugging her tighter. 

Ellie hold her as close as humanly possible and Dina was once again reminded of the strength that those long arms possessed. She squeezed her back, trying to show Ellie that she needed this connection just as much. That she wanted to be so close to her. 

And when Ellie leaned down, hiding her face in Dina’s long dark brown locks, breathing in her scent as she rested her forehead against the shorter girls shoulder, Dina’s hand found the base of her neck and softly brushed over the skin and the baby hair there. Giving her all the attention she wanted to give her last night. As if they had done this a thousand times before. 

“Hey.” Ellie murmured somewhere close to Dina’s neck, her arms still wrapped tightly around her waist and shoulder. 

“Hey.” She answered, a happy sigh. “You’re here.” 

“Mh hm.”

  
  


__________________________

Eventually they managed to let go and made it up into Dina’s room. The house was empty except for them and Dina noticed with a smile how Ellie watched all the pictures on the wall when they climbed the stairs to the first floor. 

When Dina closed the door to her room and turned towards her friend, Ellie was already lying on Dina’s bed. Feet still on the carpet, arms outstretched, not even bothering to undress the light grey hoodie.

“You look tired.” Dina said as she approached the bed. The thought that Ellie had just drove here for hours while being in that state did not sit right with Dina. 

She sat next to her, looking down at Ellie and softly brushed through the red strands with her hand, gently massaging her scalp, watching how Ellie’s eyes slowly closed and how her entire body relaxed when she released a long breath. “Mh hm.” Ellie hummed and Dina wondered if she was falling asleep right then and there. That would probably be good.

“Sleep a bit.” Dina suggested softly.

Eyes still closed Ellie shook her head slowly. “I didn’t come here just to use your bed.” But her voice was weak.

“Just a few hours.” Dina smiled, her hands still coming through Ellie’s hair. “I’ll wake you for dinner.”

She could hear a car door being shut and the rattling of keys. “..‘m sorry.” Ellie murmured half asleep. 

The front door opened and was shut again. Dina heard her mother’s steps on the tiles, heading for the kitchen. She heard cabinets open and close as her mother no doubt put away the groceries she just bought. 

“...Ellie?” she whispered but there was no answer. A smile spread on her lips as she watched Ellie’s chest rise and fall evenly.

  
  


__________________________

“Oh Dina. There you are.” Her mother observed with a smile when Dina finally entered the kitchen as she was cutting some potatoes. “I thought you might be asleep. You looked like a ghost when you arrived here yesterday, you certainly could have used that rest.” 

“I’m not the only one.” Dina muttered to herself, but seeing her mother’s confused expression she added, “my friend came over, she’ll be eating dinner with us if you don’t mind, mom.” 

“April?”

“Ellie.”

“Ellie?”

She nodded as she reached for a potato to help her mother. “Do you remember the girl from the hospital?”

“Oh, you have never told me about her before.” 

“I have just recently met her.” she answered truthfully. Dina would normally talk about everyone and everything with her mom. But Ellie, well, before her father’s accident Dina did not know Ellie - at least not as a friend. And ever since that talk with Jesse seeing Ellie as a friend was ...hard, to say the least. Dina carefully looked up at her mother wondering what her reaction would be if she found out that Dina might be interested in another girl.

“Mh.” her mother hummed. “She sure seemed nice.”

“She is.” Dina answered, unaware of the tell tale smile that was still on her lips. “She really is.”

  
  


__________________________

About two hours later, Linda and her fiancé Robin arrived. Before leaving the kitchen to go and get her husband, Dina’s mother asked Linda to set the table for six people and Dina completely missed the way her sister’s brow furrowed in confusion before she made her way upstairs to get Ellie. Who was still sleeping in the very same position she had collapsed on the bed. 

She felt a bit bad for waking her as she gently rubbed her shoulder. Only some unintelligible murmur was heard from Ellie. But no further reaction.

“Ellie?” Dina asked, slightly amused, especially when Ellie’s eyes shot open staring at the girl in front of her in disbelief before looking around in Dina’s room, and found the clock on her desk.

“Fuck.” Ellie muttered, slowly sitting up on the bed, burying her face in her hands. “I fell asleep.” 

“You needed that.” Dina assured when she realized that Ellie truly felt uncomfortable with the situation, reaching for one of her wrist and pulling it away from Ellie’s face. The way Ellie looked up at her made her smile. “Come.” Another soft pull. “Dinner is ready.”

Reluctantly Ellie eventually stood up. Though Dina didn’t let go of her hand. And if anyone thought it odd that they came into the kitchen holding hands, no one said so. 

  
  


__________________________

Dinner was as normal as it could have been. Yes, they’ve been eyeing Ellie the entire time. Her father and Robin rather subtle, Linda and her mother… well, not so subtle. And yes, Ellie seemed to feel quite a bit uncomfortable under their gazes, but nonetheless tried to stay as calm and as polite as possible.

Her mother - again - brought up the wedding, reciting every step of tomorrow’s planing, Linda and Robin once again assuring that everything will be fine. Not being the center of attention anymore Ellie visibly relaxed, though Dina noticed how the taller girl would make sure that her right wrist was properly covered by her sleeve ever so often. She had caught a glimpse of the tiniest spot of black on her wrist before, when she was playing the guitar, and now Dina was more curious than ever. She would have to ask her about that later.

Turns out she didn’t have to.

“Ellie, dear,” Dina’s mother suddenly addressed the new guest with her usual warm voice. “Will you stay for the wedding tomorrow?”

Ellie tried to smile politely as she thought about her answer, shrugging helplessly. “Don’t think so.” Her hands once again pulled the sleeves of her grey hoodie over her wrists. It was the first time Dina saw her so self conscious. Until now Ellie had always been calm and collected, standing tall and acting sure of herself. “I didn’t really bring clothes to wear on a wedding party.”

Dina wanted to offer her some of her own clothes. If Ellie were to attend the wedding then maybe she would stay longer. That somehow seemed incredibly important to the dark haired girl. She tried to think of something that would fit Ellie - the other girl being quite a bit taller than her, her shoulders a bit more broad, and if her strength was any indication, a lot more muscular than Dina. 

Her sister was faster though.

“I’m sure Robin has a simple white button-up shirt for you.” Her fiancé already nodding and standing up. “Yea, give me a minute.” And before Ellie could have protested he was gone. 

“I’ll get my sewing kit.” Dina’s mother announced getting up as well. “Just in case.”

And when Dina’s father started to slowly tidy up the kitchen the three girls headed for the couch in the living room to be out of the way. Linda sat down on the far end of the couch, while Ellie let herself fall on the other end with an exhausted sigh. 

Dina moved to take the spot in between both of them but was pulled into Ellie’s lap the second she tried to squeeze past her. It felt oddly familiar as the two strong arms wrapped around her middle and pulled her back against Ellie’s chest. Dina couldn’t bring herself to complain. Hell, Dina had a hard time saying anything for a moment. 

Judging by the shit eating grin on her sister’s face that must have been kind of obvious. 

A childish comment was on the tip of her tongue hen she felt Ellie’s forehead resting against her shoulder, and Dins remembered that her friend did not feel too uncomfortable in this situation. Reaching for one of the hands currently resting around her middle, Dina intertwined their fingers, squeezing softly. 

“You ok?” Dina asked softly ignoring her sister for now.

Ellie however was quiet for several seconds before taking a deep breath, looking up to rest her chin on Dina’s shoulder. “Yea.” She said, sounding more like her usual calm self. Dina smiled.

Dina’s mother came back first. Sitting down in a comfy looking armchair opposite of the couch she smiled at the imagine of the two girls cuddling. She was just about to say something when Robin finally came back, two white button-ups draped over his left arm which he handed to Dina’s mother before sitting down with Linda.

Dina tried her best not to look disappointed when she felt Ellie letting go of her to stand up. Four pairs of eyes watched as the red haired girl opened the zipper of her grey hoodie while moving to stand in front of the armchair Dina’s mother was currently occupying.

Dina bit her lip and felt her heart picking up its speed as she watched Ellie. Who was so god damn calm now again. When she opened the zipper and..

Took off the hoodie.

The black tank top that came into view now seemed to be Ellie’s best friend for the past few years now. The color was fading on some parts, the hem of the shirt was fringed and uneven, and there were a few stitches here and there trying to fix small holes in the fabric. And with Ellie’s musculous body underneath and the way she was standing so tall, so upright, the tank top looked like the absolute best and most fitting clothing ever. At least in Dina’s opinion. And judging by the way the others were looking at the red haired girl they came to a similar conclusion. Especially because of its biggest advantage: it was revealing.

Revealing strong arms, lean and toned, muscles flexing as she changed the hoodie for a white shirt and opened its buttons. A long tattoo coming into view, leaves hugging her right arm from her wrist to her elbow in a black-greenish ink that fit perfectly to her skin tone. Freckles and little scars were all over her body, and Dina knew she was staring but… Ellie looked god damn badass. And so..

Dina gulped.

_ Hot. _

Eventually Ellie slipped in the white shirt, Dina’s mother pulling her closer to see if the shirt would need adjustments on any part before her eyes landed on the tattoo that was shining through the thin white fabric. Noticing where the woman attention was focused on Ellie spoke.

“I’ll cover it up.” She promised. 

“Nah.” Linda answered immediately. “I don’t think Dina would like that.” She laughed bringing the attention to her little sister who could feel her face turning red ever so slightly, especially when Ellie looked at her and smiled.

Dina’s mother grabbed Ellie’s right arm then, rolling the sleeve up in a fashionable way, exposing even more ink. “We could just.. do it like that.” she offered, already reaching for her needle and Dina thought that her mom was just happy to have something to do because the whole wedding had her quite nervous. Ellie let her stitch the sleeve without any protest. A few minutes later, her mother reached for the left one mirroring what she did on the first sleeve.

Ellie’s phone vibrated in the pocket of her hoodie.

“Could you .. check who it is?” Ellie asked awkwardly and Dina fished her phone from the still warm hoodie.

A smile tugged at Dina’s lips as she looked on the screen. The picture of a man hugging a young blond girl - both grinning proudly - looked back. “Old man.” she read the contact’s name out loud. Someone giggled at that. 

Ellie however looked very serious, nervous even. “Could you take it? Uh, just say you’re Dina and i’m at your place?” And eventually Dina noticed that Ellie might have not told anyone where she is and that she actually got a family worrying for her. She took the call.

“This is Dina.” she greeted, all eyes on her. Well, not really, her mother was still stitching the sleeves and Ellie’s eyes were more focused on the shirt than on Dina. She didn’t even asked Dina to put them on speaker. Because she didn’t mind Dina answering her phone. That felt good actually. So she took a few steps back from the couch, sitting down at the kitchen table where she still could see everyone. 

“Dina, huh.” A man answered. And Dina smiled knowing where Ellie got her short answers and calm attitude from. Apparently she failed to answer anything now though.

“So, Ellie’s with you?”

“Oh, uh, yes. She came to visit earlier and will stay overnight for my sister’s wedding tomorrow.” she offered.

She heard a huff. “A wedding? Her at a wedding?” That was a different voice though. Still male but clearly someone else.

“Oh, come on Tommy, she will do fine.” A woman said, “she can be polite if she wants to.”

“She can’t just go to a wedding wearing the same clothes she does in the stables.” Tommy argued.

The first voice just grumbled at that. 

“My mother is just adjusting a shirt for her.” Dina said and when Ellie actually looked at her for a second she added, “Looks really nice actually.” 

“Woa, Ellie in a clean shirt, huh. You need take a pictu- Ow!” Then steps could be heard, some more grumbling. 

“So she’s alright?” The calm male voice asked.

“Yes.” Dina promised instantly. 

“Mh.” 

Silence.

“Uh, Dina?” 

“Yes?”

“I taught her how to dance properly, just if she should try to chicken out tomorrow.”

Dina couldn’t help but smile broadly at that. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind yet but was incredibly welcome. “I won’t let her.”

Her mother seemed to be finished since Ellie made her way over to Dina, outstretching her arm, silently asking for the phone. Dina handed it over.

“Joel?” Dina wondered if she should go back to the others while Ellie was on the phone, giving her some privacy. But Ellie didn’t seem bothered by her. 

“Huh, nah, i’m good. Yea, better.” Then a pause. And Ellie’s voice became very soft. “Yea, she is.” Ellie said smiling at Dina. “Mh, thanks, good night.”

  
  


__________________________

Ellie didn’t change back in the living room. She just grabbed her hoodie and the two of them wished to rest of the family a good night before heading back to Dina’s room.

They did have a guest room actually. But Dina did not know if she wanted to bring that up. Ellie unbuttoned the white shirt and carefully put it on Dina’s desk.

Ellie had been the first to use the bathroom, so when Dina came back to her room her friend was already sitting on her bed, covers pushed to the side. Ellie was dressed in her faithful tank top and boxer shorts and Dina couldn’t help but wonder if the tall girl usually wears boxer shorts as underwear or if there would be still some sort of panties underneath. 

Didn’t matter though.

Ellie’s green eyes were on her, her gaze so intense that she could feel the hair on her arms and neck slowly standing up. Her legs moved towards the bed on autopilot, Ellie’s arms wrapped around her waist and Dina pulled the covers over both their bodies when they lied down. They didn’t speak as they adjusted their position in the small bed, until Ellie was spooning Dina, Ellie’s right arm lazily draped over the smaller body while Dina rested her head on the other one. She could feel Ellie breathing against her neck. Slow and deep. Ellie had drifted off incredibly fast, but considering the fact that she probably did not sleep at all last night Dina wasn’t surprised. She leaned back into the warm embrace, felt the arm around her waist tighten protectively for a second and fell asleep shortly after. Safe and sound. 

  
  


__________________________  
Saturday - week 9

Dina woke up to a tickling sensation on her neck. And her eyes opened in record time. Ellie. 

“Mornin’...” Ellie murmured behind her and Dina could feel the words against the skin of her neck.

“Hey.” she replied with a yawn. “How did you know I’m awake?”

“Your breathing changed.”Ellie replied, matter-of-factly.

“You were listening to my breathing..?”

“Mh hm.” Ellie hummed and Dina had a hard time controlling her rapidly beating heart. She wondered if Ellie could listen to that too. It felt terribly loud. She sit up slowly, looking down at Ellie who looked so much better than when she arrived at Dina’s house yesterday. But Dina still reached to run her finger through Ellie’s hair just like yesterday. “Did you sleep well?”

“God damn perfect.” Ellie smiled and Dina wanted to capture this exact moment, waking up with Ellie beside her, holding her, smiling at her. 

A loud knock. 

“You girls gettin’ ready?”

“Yes, mom!” Dina answered loudly since the door was still closed, only half succeeding in hiding a groan. Stupid timing.

Ellie however seemed to think it was kind of hilarious, judging by her expression. A broad grin, barely tamed by the fact that she was biting her bottom lip, but that only made her expression more happy if anything else.

  
  


__________________________

Again, Ellie was the first to use the bathroom. They both knew Dina would need more time than her without anyone voicing their thoughts. While Dina was getting ready - wearing a beautiful knee-length dark green dress with a very low cut back, Ellie was sitting on the bed, drying her hair from the shower. And calling someone by the soft murmur that was heard ever so often.

By the time Dina came back to her room Ellie was dressed. Her normal black jeans, a fresh black tank top from Dina that was just a tiny bit too small, hugging Ellie’s frame tightly and the white button-up. And a tie? That must have been her mother’s idea. She liked it. 

Ellie was in the process of adjusting the tie when she spotted the dark haired girl and Dina’s entire body felt stupidly warm as she watched Ellie’s jaw set, and Ellie’s eyes taking her in. The tie - still a bit messy - long forgotten.

Dina could hear her heart beat loudly in her ears when she took a few steps forward, reaching for the black fabric around Ellie’s neck. 

“..Need help with that?”

They both knew she didn’t. Ellie was managing perfectly fine before Dina… distracted her. The tall girl didn’t say anything though, instead stood perfectly still as Dina fixed the last part of her outfit. 

It was done far too quickly. But Dina didn’t let go of the tie. Her brown eyes travelled up to meet green ones, watching her intensely. 

Now, now! Move. Suddenly it was incredibly hard to control her body, or her breathing. She stood there frozen, looking up at the taller girl, her cheeks no doubt tinted a soft red and her breaths shaky and a bit too quick.

Her hold on the tie tightened and she pulled ever so slightly on the black fabric. But Ellie followed. Leaning down. And then Dina connected their lips. Just for second. Trying not to whimper when it felt just as perfect as she imagined it to feel. She wanted to draw away - to see if it was okay, if she had crossed any lines, but Ellie didn’t let her. Dina couldn’t recall when Ellie’s hands had moved to each side of her neck, her thumbs caressing her jaw when she kissed Dina again. Just as soft and gentle as Dina did. Again. And Again.

Eventually they just stood there, foreheads pressed together, looking at each other. Dina could not help but smile especially when she still felt the slow caresses against her jaw. 

“You’re fucking beautiful.” Ellie said in awe and Dina could help but giggle at that.

“Pffft. You’re the one to talk, Handsome.” 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh.  
> Next chapter, yay?
> 
> I truly hope you won't be disappointed. All these comments really made me super duper happy and thank you so very very much!  
> Love you all.  
> Like seriously.  
> I love you guys.
> 
> So, uh. If you haven't noticed yet...
> 
> In terms of story - we have no story.
> 
> Well, at least no so duper action-filled story.  
> We have cute dates and stuff, that's something, right?
> 
> This started out as a little "Feel-good"-Fic, because well, i'm not feeling that great atm, but then it kinda got longer and longer.  
> It'll probably have 4 or 5 chapters of various length.  
> Just stupid cute pairing stuff. So, uh, sorry.
> 
> But i still hope you'll like it!  
> And again, thank you ever so much for all your comments, you guys made my day. 
> 
> <3

__________________________   
Saturday - week 9

Dina was convinced this was the most perfect dress she ever possessed. There were several reasons for that. First of all, it was incredible pretty. The fabric and its length were comfortable and the dark green color really fit her well. Secondly, Ellie seemed to share that opinion and she absolutely loved the way Ellie looked at her. 

But the best part was clearly the low cut back. At first it had been just a small detail on the dress, Dina thought it would look good. Well, It did. But most importantly, right now, it let her feel Ellie’s thumb as she was drawing small circles absentmindedly directly on the skin of her back while listening to Linda’s speech - thanking the guest for attending her most important day. 

The goosebumps it provoked was so intense that Dina was convinced one could spot it from the other side of the room. Gladly, no one seemed to pay any attention to her. Everyone was focused on the bride and her teary mother that now hugged her oldest daughter oh so proudly. 

Eventually her small speech was finished and Ellie had to withdraw her hand from its spot between Dina’s shoulderblades to applaud politely before the food would be served.

A small sigh escaped Dina before she mirrored Ellie’s actions and applauded softly. How could she crave Ellie’s touch that much even though they just started.. well, dating? 

Did they start dating? They shared a kiss, a god damn good one at that, but there wasn’t really any time to discuss the detail of their relationship afterwards.

Dina looked at Ellie finding her already smiling at her. Her own lips curled upwards on their own accord. Yea, they were definitely dating. There was no other option for Dina.

____________________________

Church: check.

Linda’s speech: check.

Eating wedding cake: check.

Lots of weird little performances by Linda’s and Robin’s friends: check.

A few of the elder’s of the family were already excusing themselves for the night as the wedding party progressed even though the sun was already setting. Robin was pushing a few buttons on a big speaker before music started to play and a few of their friends cheered as this was the sign for the whole party to loosen up. 

Dina watched her sister and her now-husband dancing in the far end of the large room to some music that didn’t reach the table they were sitting at. She looked at Ellie who was focused on their intertwined hands in her lap. 

It was odd how maintaining any form of contact had suddenly the highest priority for both of them. Wait, was it really ‘suddenly’? They kinda did that from the start, didn’t they?

But today was like...a whole new level of this. Ellie would hold her hand, would touch her arm, caress her skin, Dina would lean against Ellie or trace the tattoo, resisting the urge to comb through the red strands with her hand. Dina never knew that she would need anyones attention so badly. 

But right now she did.

And she didn’t mind.

She liked it.

Scratch that. She loved it.

Dina squeezed Ellie’s fingers softly to get her attention and the green eyes immediately looked up. 

“Hm?” Ellie hummed, dropping both their hands on one of her thighs.

“Sooo..you know..” Dina began slowly, her smile growing brighter with every syllable. “I’ve been told you’re quite the dancer?”

“..What.” Ellie’s confused blinking nearly had the dark haired girl giggling. “How… Joel.”

“Mh hm.” Dina hummed, moving to stand up. 

Ellie looked from Dina to the other side of the room where some people were dancing, and back to Dina. “How are you sure that he wasn’t lying?” 

But Dina was already in front of her, pulling softly at Ellie’s hands to make her stand up. 

“I’ll just have to find out.”

  
  


__________________________

Eventually Ellie gave in, letting Dina drag her to the makeshift dance floor. And even though the music had long changed to soft and slow songs which did not require much dancing experience at all Dina was sure Ellie would have been a great dancer. 

Ellie’s hands were warm against her waist, her hold was firm, and her green eyes never left Dina. Holding her just that tiny bit tighter than any dance position would require.

Dina remembered how Jesse once said that Ellie didn’t like people in generell. It was one of his many reasons why they clearly couldn’t meet each other. And watching Ellie throughout this day that left her in the presence of crowded rooms and many many people she didn’t know, Dina realized that this snippet of information had been true.

Ellie had more or less successfully avoided any form of small talk, was always a step or two away from the crowd and would try to be as invisible as possible. But that didn’t stop the tall girl from holding Dina close in a nearly protective way. Just like right now.

Dina’s hands had been locked behind Ellie’s neck as they moved slowly to the music. It felt nice. A bit like a dream. Dina wondered how she actually got here. She must have been god damn lucky. 

The second or third or maybe forth song was slowly fading when Dina let her hands travel down Ellie’s shoulders, down her arms until they reached the skin on Ellie’s forearms. Her eyes following her hands’ movements, admiring Ellie’s features for the uptenth time before looking up.

“You ok?” Ellie did actually sound a bit worried there. That was really sweet.

“Mh hm. A bit tired maybe.” 

Ellie looked around. “People are leaving.” She observed, but Dina heard what she didn’t say. _ Maybe we should leave, too. _

Dina nodded slowly even though there was no question and Ellie didn’t even look at her right now. “Mh, right. Let’s go home.”

  
  


__________________________

After Dina quickly looked for her mother to let her know she and Ellie would be heading home, the two girls walked down the empty streets to Dina’s house. The autumn air was cold against her cheeks and bare legs, but Dina couldn’t bring herself to pay a lot of attention to that. 

Next to her Ellie walked watching the night’s sky, calm and quiet as always, her cheeks slightly red, probably from the cold breeze. Dina reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers and Ellie’s thumb instantly stroked over the back of her hand. 

“You’re cold.” 

“Mh, sorry.” 

Ellie looked at her dress again. And the thin black cardigan Dina had put on. “I should have brought a jacket..” she murmured.

Dina snorted. “Yeah, please remember bringing  _ your  _ jacket for  _ me _ to wear next time.” she joked.

“I will.” 

And Dina somehow knew that Ellie wasn’t joking.

  
  


__________________________

When they reached their destination, Dina headed straight for her room to change into something warmer while Ellie offered to boil some water for tea. 

Finally putting on some comfy pants felt heavenly. Folding her new favorite dress and putting it on her desk as neatly as possible Dina caught sight of Ellie’s hoodie. Her hand reached for the grey material, the fabric unexpectedly soft from frequent use, and she pulled it close to her body, hugging the clothing and taking in Ellie’s scent.

She briefly wondered if that kind of attraction to someone was still healthy. Standing in her room only dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a bra, sniffing Ellie’s clothes shouldn’t feel right. But it did. 

She could hear the cabinets in the kitchen open and close, and remembered that Ellie wanted to make some tea. She was probably searching for cups. 

Quickly changing her bra for a tank top, Dina put on Ellie’s hoodie confidently. There was no piece of clothing in the house that would keep her as warm as that. Admittedly, it was a bit big. It had looked oversized on Ellie, but Dina actually had to roll the sleeves up a bit in order to see her fingers.

She was still focused on the sleeves when she entered the kitchen. And she felt Ellie’s eyes on her instantly. 

“So, uh, did you find the cups?” Dina asked, moving to stand next to Ellie. The question was completely useless since there were clearly standing two cups already filled and steaming on the counter.

Ellie nodded anyway, looking at Dina as if she was the most precious thing on earth. Dina felt her cheeks warm slightly.

“How’s my new outfit?” she joked.

“A bit big maybe.” Ellie’s lips were curling upwards. “And probably not the cleanest choice.”

“Mh.” Dina hummed, hugging her own frame, pressing the fabric closer to her body. “I like it.” 

“Me too.”

“Really?”

“Yea.” Ellie softly grabbed both of Dina’s wrists, pulling her hands away from her middle and intertwining their fingers, to get a better look at Dina. “Looks like you’re mine.”

“Well.” Dina could feel her heartbeat in her throat was she answered, softly squeezing Ellie’s hands.

“I am yours.” she barely whispered.

And then, finally, for the second time their lips met again, incredibly soft at first. Their eyes still locked as they repeated the action a few times. Then the taller girl gently increased the pressure, Dina eyes fluttered shut in an immediate response and she could feel Ellie smiling against her lips as she let out a happy sigh. 

Eventually their kisses grew a little bit bolder. Ellie would taste Dina’s lips with her tongue, Dina would bit Ellie’s bottom lip softly and when their hands let go of eachother Dina’s hands immediately found the collar of the white bottom-up, pulling Ellie even closer.

Dina could feel one of Ellie’s hands on the back of her head, her other arm tightly wrapped around the shorter girls waist. And then their tongues touched Dina couldn’t hold back a tiny whimper. That sadly brought both of them back to reality. 

Dina let out a sigh as she rested her head against Ellie’s shoulder, leaning into Ellie trying to hide the fact that her legs felt like pudding now. “That was nice.”

“Mh hm.” Ellie hummed happily, holding her close.

“So, uh. Tea.” Dina rememered a few moments later, reluctantly moving out of Ellie’s embrace and reached for the cups, fulling intending on bringing them up to her room before the rest of her family arrived when she noticed something.

“Ellie, that is just hot water.”

“Yep.” Ellie admitted, scratching her neck. “I had to look through all of your..twenty cupboards for the damn cups. Didn’t find the tea.”

“Aw, come on.” Dina bit her lip trying to prevent to grin, not quite succeeding. “It’s only six cupboards.” She replied playfully. “And the tea is right behind you, on the counter.”

Ellie turned around in record time, searching the counter with her eyes. When she spotted the wooden box with the white lettering, she looked at the capital letters that spelled “TEA” in a cute font as if they just insulted her. 

Dina giggled as she reached for the box. “Herbal tea alright with you?” But Ellie only grumbled turning her back to Dina. And Dina could swear there was a blush on her cheeks.

“Good to know you aren’t completely perfect, would have been unfair.” Dina joked, readying the tea and grabbing both cups. 

When she passed Ellie, she gave the taller girl a quick peck on the lips. Only giggling harder when she could  _ feel _ Ellie’s pout against her own lips.

  
  


__________________________

Ellie had changed into the same sleeping attire she had last evening, and was lying on her back on Dina’s bed, as Dina sat next to her browsing her phone. Her sister had already posted a few pictures from the wedding and Dina smiled when she found herself and Ellie in the background of one of them. If she zoomed in. A lot.

“What is it?” Ellie asked curiously. 

But Dina shook her head, still smiling. “Nothing, really. It’s stupid.”

“Huuh.”

Eventually Dina had to discard Ellie’s hoodie as it would be to warm to sleep in it. But that was alright since they found themselves in the same position as last night.

Well, nearly the same.

Ellie’s right arm was still hugging Dina but her hand was slowly sneaking beneath her shirt - slow enough for Dina to protest if she wanted to - until she could press her palm against the bare skin of Dina’s stomach, her thumb moving idly. 

And she could feel Ellie’s lips against the skin of her neck every once in a while. 

“Tell me anyway?” Ellie asked softly picking up the topic from earlier.

There was a long silence between them, but even that still felt nice.

“Thank you. Thank you for coming.” Dina answered softly after a few minutes.

Ellie’s hold tightened just a little bit. And clearly she hesitated before answering.

“Uh, you do realize that I had quite the selfish reasons for coming here?”

As if Dina could forget that so easily. “I know. But I’m glad you’re here..so, thank you anyway.”

“Huuh.”

“You know..” Dina bit her lip nervously thinking about her next words.

“Eventually, we could talk about.. what happened.. that night?”

“Yea.” Ellie sighed. “Eventually.” She could feel her pressing her forehead against her shoulder, that was not really a topic Ellie was comfy with. 

“I’m sorry.” Ellie whispered after another short silence.

“Don’t be. Please.” Dina ordered and she felt Ellie nod reluctantly but she didn’t speak again.

“I’ll always be there for you, Ellie.” She promised without hesitation. It felt a bit awkward that she said those words while Ellie had been looking out for Dina the entire time now, but that didn’t make her words any less true. “Always.”

“ ...Thank you.”

  
  


__________________________   
Sunday - week 9

This morning, much like the last, Ellie had been already awake when Dina woke up, but made no effort or whatsoever to get up until Dina entangled herself from her to go to the bathroom.

On her way back to her room Dina could already hear someone downstairs working in the kitchen. Probably her mother already making breakfast. She opened the door to her room to find Ellie sitting on her bed with crossed legs. Phone in her hand. A now familiar picture on the screen and her thumb hovering over the “Call” button.

“I’ll be downstairs, breakfast.” Dina let her know and quickly closed the door again when Ellie nodded.

Walking down the stairs Dina wondered what Ellie liked for breakfast, or food in general. Or what Ellie liked, period. Dina actually did not know too much about her. 

Upon reaching the kitchen she was expecting to see her mother, but was quite a bit surprised by the sight instead.

“Linda.” Dina greeted, making herself known.

Her sister was in dressed in baggy sleeping clothes that no doubt actually belonged to Robin, her hair was still arranged in the complicated bun from the wedding, but since she obviously spend quite the time in bed it was as messy as the beautiful hair-do could possibly be. 

“Oh, mornin’ Dina.” she greeted cheerfully and winked. ”Nice to catch you alone for a second.”

And suddenly Dina wished she would have just turned around and went back to bed the second she realized that it was not her mom in the kitchen. She knew exactly what her sister was about to bring up.

“Oh, yeah?” she asked idly, heading for the coffee that was already steaming in a large can. “Why is that?” Adding milk and a tiny bit of sugar, she faced her sister, leaning against the counter.

Linda was scrolling through her phone with an unreadable expression in search of something, her eyes lit up when she found whatever she was looking for. She wordlessly held her phone in front of Dina’s face, and Dina barely managed to swallow her coffee. Her cheeks turning a soft shade of red.

“How..who..”

It was probably the most perfect picture anyone could have taken yesterday. Ellie and Dina, seconds before they decided to go home. Dina’s hands on Ellie's forearms, eyes locked, both completely oblivious to their surroundings.

It was not so perfect that this picture might be used against her now.

“Uh.. Look, Linda..“ Dina stammered trying to smooth out the situation. If her family would disapprove of her relationship, could they at least wait for Ellie to leave?

“Do you want my honest opinion, Dina?” Linda asked turning her phone back to look at the picture herself.

Dina just wanted nothing more than to run back to her room, let herself fall into the bed and cling to Ellie until they had to leave to get back to college. But that wouldn’t help.

She sighed. “Yea?”

“I like her better than Jesse.” Linda quipped happily. 

Dina was just about to argue that Linda should at least get to know Ellie and see how nice and caring she was when she finally understood her sister’s words.

“Wait. What.”

On Linda’s face was the same shit eating grin like on friday evening on the couch, as she was obviously satisfied with the impact of her words. “Gods, you’re just too cute, D.”

“Linda…” Dina growled but her sister only giggled.

“I mean it though.” 

“That’s uh..”  _ unexpected.  _ “..nice of you.” Dina sighed deeply but she smiled relieved. “You really had me scared there for a second.”

Linda hugged Dina apologetically, rubbing her little sister’s back. Why Linda was so happy about the situation was anyone’s guess, but Dina was glad it turned out for the best.

“You know, mom thinks so too.” 

“Okay, now, you can quit your joking, you got me once.”

“No joke.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Linda rolled her eyes. “You might not have realized it as you were clearly in your own little space yesterday, cuddling with your girlfriend all day on  _ my _ wedding...” Dina’s cheeks tuned a little red again. “But mom stared anyone down that dared to look in your direction for too long.”

“How.. how did you even know..” Dina whined, using the fact that her sister was hugging as an opportunity to hide her face.

Linda giggled. She really giggled a lot this morning.

“Oh, D. You weren’t exactly subtle now, were you? All this smiling, hugging, holding hands, ... So for how long are the two of you doing this now?”

“...Might be 24 hours now.”

Linda pulled back from Dina enough to stare at her wide-eyed. 

“You’re kidding.”

“..No?”

“Arghh!! But that means..”

“Why are you girls so loud in the early morning?” Dina’s mother asked smiling from the threshold of the kitchen.

“Moooom!” Linda whined like a little girl and not like a 25 year old who just got married. “Dad won.”

It took a few moments to understand this statement, then Dina nearly choked. “Y-You .. made bets on that?!” 

“Well, you weren’t really providing any information, Dina,  _ dear. _ ” Linda argued using her best imitation of their mother's voice. 

  
  


__________________________

Eventually her mother changed the subject by ordering her two daughters around to make breakfast. They had guests after all, so they shouldn’t just be drinking coffee by leaning against the kitchen counter.

Dina was setting the table the table for six again. Turns out “guests” meant Robin and Ellie. 

“So.” she addressed Linda after a while checking nervously if Ellie was coming down the stairs, as this whole situation was embarrassing enough without Ellie knowing about it.

“..What did you call? How long..” she trailed off.

Linda however caught whatever she was not saying, her sly grin returning, only to tease her little sister a bit more. “Since the hospital.”

Dina’s furrowed. Linda sighed.

“So I see her for the first time in the hospital, and in that one hour she paid more attention to you than your boyfriend ever had over an entire weekend when he was here.”

Dina nodded, slowly. The memory had her smiling now that everything was fine again.

“That was actually the second time we met.” She offered after a while. Speaking about that was a lot easier than she thought. She felt kind of proud to tell something about her relationship with Ellie. Her mother was listening closely now as well. 

“And the first time ended with her telling me to ‘ _ Leave now.’  _ “ 

“For real?” Linda had a hard time believing that. “And then she drove you home for hours in the middle of the night?”

“Yea.” Dina smiled warmly. “She’s..”  _ odd like that. _ “..cute like that.”

“..‘m not.” Ellie protested as she was standing calm and tall on the last step of the stairs, before joining the others in the kitchen. Wearing..a certain black tank top. And Dina wondered briefly if Ellie was actually showing off these goddamn arms and her tattoo now that she knew that her mother is not bothered by the ink. 

“Yeah, right.”

  
  


__________________________

  
  


There was another big advantage of Ellie coming to see Dina for the weekend. They had the same way back to college. So instead of switching trains for six to seven hours Dina could just cling to Ellie’s back for a bit more than four hours.

She couldn’t ask for a better option.

Dina’s mother offered to pack them some of the leftovers of the wedding meal but seeing as there was not that much space in their backpacks and on the motorcycle, she had to settle with the “make sure to eat dinner when you get back” speech.

And after several good-byes’s and drive-safe’s they were on their way back. The ride was much like the last, pretty silent, though it felt much better. Ellie was still maintaining a good balance between safety and speed and they even stopped once on their way back to warm their hands on a cheap cup of tea.

When the college and the dorms finally came into view Dina sighed heavily. It was a bit sad that this weekend was over.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head against Ellie’s back. 

“Don’t feel like..college.” she offered.

Ellie nodded absentmindedly but was silent until she stopped the motorcycle and Dina got off a lot more carefully than the first time. Ellie also got off, now standing in front of her.

“That was a nice weekend.” Dina said with a smile looking up at Ellie.

“It was.”

Dina bit her lip as she thought of what to say as she didn’t feel like leaving Ellie yet, even though it was quite late and they would have classes in the morning.

But once again Ellie showed her why people liked to say that ‘ _ Actions speak louder than words _ ’ as she reached for Dina’s face, cupping her cheeks with both hands. Ellie’s hands were incredibly cold from driving so long but Dina didn’t mind. 

Thumbs caressed her face wordlessly for a few seconds before Ellie leaned in to kiss her softly.

Dina did not know how much time passed while they were kissing on the sidewalk in front of her dorm building. Brushing their lips together, tasting each other until a clock in the distance reminded them that time was an actual existing concept that they couldn’t escape. That, and the cold on the night. 

Ellie, stupid-calm-and-collected-Ellie, pulled away first leaving Dina nearly whimpering at the lost contact.

“Call me tomorrow?” Ellie’s voice was breathless. Okay, not-so-collected-Ellie. And a tiny part of Dina was god damn proud.

“I will.”

  
  


__________________________   
Monday - week 10

“And, wow, that dress was gorgeous!” April commented for the twentieth time while scrolling through the pictures of Linda’s wedding. They were sitting in the college’s cafeteria as they had still time between classes. April had brought her chair as close as possible to Dina’s so they both could see the small phone screen.

Linda had posted an unholy amount of pictures that left Dina wondering on how the hell she even managed to get so many pictures taken in the first place since Linda was posing in nearly all of them.

“Pictures from your sister’s wedding?” A familiar male voice asked. Turning around it was indeed Jesse that tried to see anything on the small screen.

“Yes.” Dina answered as normally as possible, they were still friends after all. She moved a bit away from April so that Jesse could actually see something as April continued scrolling through the posts. 

April was mostly commenting on what dress she liked best in what photo or how delicious certain cakes must have tasted by the look of it. Dina knew that Jesse was searching the pictures for a entire different detail though. A detail she had yet to tell April about.

But leave it to Jesse to bring up a topic at an awkward timing. Dina knew he meant well, trying to show interest that he wasn’t too sour about it (after his two weeks of sulking that is).

“So, uh. You and El now?” he asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

April’s eyes grew in size until they were at least twice as big as before. “Diiinaaaa?”

“Yeah.” Dina sighed, not sure how she could escape this situation. “But how..?”

“How I know about that?” he grinned proudly. “Best friends, remember?”

“The kind of best friends that punch each other in the face ever so often?” she replied sarcastically.

“Yea, the best kind of best friends.” Pause. “Minus the girlfriend part maybe.”

Dina had to admit, that even though she now knew both of them, their friendship still made zero sense to her. But at least now she knew why the people were so quick to deny the idea of Jesse and Ellie dating. She nearly laughed at her own thoughts. That truly was ridiculous.

“You’re so weird.”

“You’re the one to talk.” He huffed. “You’re dating the absolute weirdest person on earth. Ow!”

Well, and then Dina hit him on the back of his head. 

  
  


__________________________

Friday - week 10

They called. 

Every. 

Single. 

Day.

“Where are you right now?”

“Why?”

“Reasons.”

“Ellie.”

Ellie just hummed.

“I’m on my way back home.” Dina eventually answered, pretty sure that Ellie did actually know that since she called her exactly five minutes after her last class ended. She was just walking down the sidewalk, watching the ground so that no one would see her randomly grinning at something that Ellie had said.

“You’re slow.” Ellie said. Though it didn’t sound like an insult, merely an observation.

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“I’ve been waiting here for 15 Minutes.” she said and Dina had the faintest impression that she heard that sentence twice before her brain caught up with the words and her head shot up. And Ellie was actually standing a few feet away from her, lowering her phone and ending the call as she leaned against a now very familiar motorcycle.

“Remind me again..” Ellie said with a smile as she approached Dina throwing one arm over her shoulder and pulling her close. “...what are your plans for today?”

Dina smiled brightly. Yesterday she had told Ellie that her classes would be longer, stretching far into the evening, and thus they would “ruin” her plans. Her plans being to find Ellie in the small park of the campus and watching her play the guitar.

“I’m completely free today.” She managed to answer before Ellie kissed her sweetly.

“Perfect.”

_ Yeah, perfect indeed. _

____________________________

It was getting dark and cold quickly now, which is why they didn’t head for the small park. What surprised Dina was where they were actually headed. Ellie drove slowly through the main street of the city, and at first Dina thought they might stop at one of the countless restaurants, clubs or diners that were situated here. 

But eventually Ellie took a turn to her right, bringing them in a quiet area full of large buildings that were no doubt home to dozens of families. And Ellie.

Because Ellie stopped the motorcycle in front of one them. A seven storage building, with three front doors, long enough to have six apartments next to each other on one floor. A small parking area for cars just in front of the building, signs telling whose parking slot belonged to which apartement. 

A small sign with “No. 7 - Williams.” seemed to indicate Ellie’s spot because that’s where she left her motorcycle before reaching for Dina’s hand. They took the front door on the right, the stairs to the first floor before Ellie reached for her keys. Unlocking the apartment number seven.

Dina followed Ellie curiously when the tall girl held the door open for her, and watched Ellie instantly kick off her shoes into a bunch of other pairs that must have been kicked off before in a similar way. That weird mixture of following rules and untidiness was so much like Ellie that Dina could stop the smile on her face as she took of her own shoes. Nealy putting them next to the pile of Ellie’s shoes.

“So, uh. Welcome, i guess?”

Ellie offered with a smile when Dina took in her surroundings. It was a long stretched one room apartment. The front door leaving you in a tiny space that only allowed enough room for shoes, jackets and keys, leading you instantly to a small kitchen counter with an actual kitchen island that seemed super useless in an apartment of that size.

Dinas eyes traveled down the long room. Upon entering the kitchen was to her left, bathroom to her right, in front of her a living area with a table and a TV screen on the wall - no couch or anything though. A few bookshelves and cabinets at the far end of the room obscured the direct view from the front door to a large bed, situated under a just as large window. 

“Wow, you even have a kitchen.” Dina joked.

“I’ll have you know, I can cook basic meals.” 

“You can boil water.” Dina reminded her.

Ellie’s lips twitched as she tried not to smile at that comment.

“The tea was hiding from me.” She deadpanned. “I swear.”

  
  
  


__________________________

Everything was a bit on the small side, but Dina kind of like the apartment. The absence of a couch had her confused at first but when Ellie had led the dark haired girl to her bed, which was nearly twice as broad as Dina’s, and super comfy, that fact seem absolutely not important anymore. 

Laying on her back, her feet dangling off the mattress, watching her surroundings Dina saw that Ellie’s black guitar was hanging on a wall over her bed, next to a giant picture of an equally giant horse.  _ Okay, that was unexpected. _

“You like horses?” Dina asked a bit more loudly since Ellie was actually making tea this time on the other side of the room. Eventually the tall girl came into vision from behind one on the bookshelves with two cups. 

“I don’t like horses.” She answered. Putting both cups on an empty space on one of the shelves before looking up at the giant picture. “I only like my horse. That’s Callus.”

“Your horse?”

“Mh hm. Back in Jackson. Joel had this poster made for me when I first moved here, claiming it might keep me from feeling homesick.”

Dina didn’t know much about this Joel, but he reminded her so much of Ellie and she was sure that Ellie had a lot of her traits from this man. 

Dina was still watching the big photo above her head when the mattress shifted and Ellie crawled up to her, letting herself fall next to her on top of the covers. Dina turned to face her.

“Hey.” Ellie said with a smile.

“Hey there.” Dina answered with a smile.And sighed happily when one of Ellie’s arms was wrapped around her middle, once again ever so slowly sneaking under her shirt, this time to draw little circles on her spine.

Dina reached for Ellie, her own hand disappearing in Ellie’s hair as she pulled out the hair tie from Ellie’s ponytail and combed through the red strands with her hand. 

Ellie pulled her closer, until she could rest her cheek against Dina’s hair and they just layed there for a few minutes. 

The soft sounds of rain drops could be heard from the window over their heads. 

“Oh no.” Ellie said with smile, her expression absolutely not saying ‘oh no’. And Dina looked at her curiously. “I don’t like driving in the rain.” Ellie clarified. Her expression still not saying ‘oh no’.

“Oh.”  _ Oh. _

“Mh hm.”

“Well, we got no choice then.” The rain was so soft, Dina could have walked to her dorms on the other side of the town and would have been barely wet. But that wasn’t the point here. 

“Nope, looks like you have to stay the night.”

________________________________


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hello there.
> 
> First, a small apology on my side.  
> This will be the shortest chapter in the entire story.  
> Because I suck at planing out chapters.  
> And,  
> Because, i couldn't include the Joel/Ellie part here (that one has over 6k words so far and still isn't finished)  
> So, bear with me, please. 
> 
> And then, uh. Monday will be a horrible day for me so the next update will take a few more days, but the chapter will be quite long again. Pretty much like the first probably.
> 
> As always, I hope you won't be disappointed.  
> I can't tell you how much I loved the comments that told me you smiled while reading this. That's the highest praise I can aim for. And I intend to reach this goal again sometime. 
> 
> I love you, guys.  
> You're the best.  
> <3

__________________________

Friday - week 10

  
  


“Dina?”

The room was dark, and there was barely any noise apart from the soft knocking of the raindrops against the window. The evening went by incredibly fast. They ordered some food since Ellie had barely any ingredients for cooking in her kitchen. 

After watching some stupid videos on Ellie’s laptop - that was so full of stickers that probably no IT service in the world could guess what model it was - Dina and Ellie were tucked in warmly under the covers. The window was opened ever so slightly, providing a little bit of fresh air; well; a little bit of  _ cold _ fresh air. Not that she minded though, Ellie was quite the human furnace.

Ellie was holding her close in what Dina would now call their ‘usual sleeping position’ although this bed would have provided enough space for them to sleep separately, Dina’s back was pressed against Ellie’s chest. But Ellie’s arm was not hugging her this time.

The right tattooed arm was a comforting weight as it was laying on top of Dina’s body, reaching down for the upper side of her thigh. Taking full advantage of the sleeping shorts Dina had chosen from Ellie’s closet as they only covered, well not much, they were shorts after all. And Dina had a hard time keeping still when Ellie’s nails trailed over the sensitive skin of her thigh. It was stupid just how good that felt.

“Hm?” Dina hummed contently, her mind way too focused on the way Ellie fingers moved to reply properly. 

“You would tell me…” Her movements slowed down significantly as Ellie was searching for right words, then stopped entirely. “.. if you dislike something I do, uh, right?”

Dina’s brow furrowed and she turned around slowly while keeping Ellie's arm against her body. Facing Ellie she tried to read her expression, but it was too dark and she could barely make out the other girls features. 

The thought of disliking anything that Ellie did seemed utterly ridiculous to Dina who was practically humming as soon as Ellie’s hands found a tiny bit of skin to touch. Which they did. Often. But disliking that? _As if that was even possible._

She nodded though, for Ellie. If this was important for her than Dina would promise her to do so. “You too?” she then asked, and even in the dark she could see Ellie’s lips curling upwards in a dreamy smile and Dina wondered if her girlfriend came to a similar conclusion. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever need that.” So Ellie was thinking the same.

“Oh, but I do?”

“I might be a little bit clingy.” Ellie replied sheepishly. In the past Dina often wondered if she was a clingy girlfriend. And she did thought that yes, she was kind of clingy. But that was nothing compared to the relationship she now had with Ellie. 

Yes, they always were connected in some way the entire time they saw each other and yes, they spend an awful amount of time calling and texting when they didn’t see each other, but.. Dina never saw Ellie as someone clingy, oddly enough.

“You’re not.” she said instantly and Ellie snorted ready to argue, but Dina continued. While thinking about the words had been easy, saying them was a tad harder and so it was barely a whisper but enough to stop any response that Ellie might have had. 

“You’re perfect. To me, you’re perfect.” _Gods, her voice was so weak_. Dina felt her cheeks getting warmer and was thankful that the room was so dark. “I like the way you hold me.” And she meant both, Ellie’s strong hugs and the way her hand had now found the same spot like before although on her opposite thigh.

She could feel Ellie’s grip tighten on her, fingertips softly pressing into the skin for half a second before the tall girl let out a shaky breath. “I like it when play with my hair.” she admitted eventually in an equally low voice and Dina’s grin couldn’t possibly be any brighter.

“Yeah.” she sighed happily. “I like doing that.” Ellie’s hair was incredibly soft and watching her relax whenever Dina combed through the red strands with her hands was a beautiful sight. She instantly reached out for Ellie, hand disappearing in her hair, small fingertips gently massaging her scalp.

“Mh, like that.” Seeing Ellie enjoying such a simple gesture had Dina’s heartbeat increasing in speed. How could she like someone that much in such a short period of time? Their first kiss was barely a week ago, and then they hadn’t seen each other for days. But Dina could confidently say that ever since last weekend sleeping in her dorm felt incredibly lonely.

Feeling Ellie’s body next to her was so much better than just talking to her on phone. Softly pressing her hand against the back of Ellie’s head she pulled her closer and whenever Ellie just understood her wordless question very well or just had the same idea she didn’t know. But she soon felt Ellie’s lips against hers, soft and warm.

And this time they were not in the kitchen of Dina’s house where her family members might see her. And the were not on the sidewalk in front of Dina’s dorms where it was cold enough to catch a cold. 

No, they were in a warm bed, alone, in the dark. She could feel Ellie humm appreciatively against her lips when she put her leg around the taller girls hip in order to scoot closer, exposing even more skin to the hand that was still on her thigh. And when Dina felt Ellie’s tongue against her lips, she complied to the silent request in no time.

Ellie’s kisses were hungry and deep and so so goddamn slow and intense.  _ How was that combination even possible?! _ It shouldn't be allowed to kiss like that. Dina whimpered when she felt teeth softly biting her lip again, a content purr telling her that Ellie approved of her reaction, before continuing their heated kiss.

The only thing that eventually stopped them was the need to breathe. Dina’s chest felt too tight to inhale all the air she suddenly needed but she was glad to hear Ellie panting softly as well.

“That was..” Dina didn’t even know what to say.

“Mh mh.” But the way Ellie smiled at her told her enough. Even though she could barely see her in the dark. She just knew. 

Ellie chuckled at her lack of response and Dina could feel the muscles moving under her fingertips. Apparently one of her hands had traveled underneath Ellie’s shirt and was now resting against the redhead’s stomach. 

When Dina slowly moved her fingertips to feel strong muscles under very soft skin, the tall girl stiffened and she could feel her own tigh being squeezed by a strong hand.

“Sorry, ” Ellie murmured and for the first time she seemed actually flustered. “..’might be a bit ticklish.”

Resisting the urge to see just how much “a bit ticklish” actually was, Dina giggled softly and hugged Ellie’s frame, pressing herself even closer to the other girl. The teasing could wait for another time, this moment was just too precious.

“ .. I missed you over the last few days.” Dina eventually admitted even though it must sound stupid.

Ellie was quick to press Dina against her, in one of these unusual strong hugs. Her voice was somewhere close to Dina’s ear as she was hiding her face in the long dark brown locks. Breathing in her scent. 

“Yea, I missed you too.” 

  
  


__________________________

Wednesday - week 11

Apparently they had silently agreed on something that friday night. Because it went without saying that Dina stayed the entire saturday, and the saturday night. Two perfect weekends in a row that had left Dina dreaming of kissing and cuddling Ellie for the past two days.

And that seemed to be quite obvious.

“Earth to Diinaaaaa.” April’s voice sing-sanged not for the first time today.

“What is it?”

“You’re spacing out. Again.” April chuckled with a wicked smile. “Could you stop daydreaming of your love live for one hour?”

“I’m not..” Dina trailed off not sure what to say. Well, she had actually been thinking of Ellie. But she didn’t like that she seemed to be so easy to read.

“Sorry.” Dina murmured, nipping at her cup of coffee. When their afternoon class had ended earlier than expected April and Dina decided on a trip to the mall before Dina would meet Ellie in the early evening.

The thought made her smile and the dreamy smile made April roll her eyes dramatically.

“You’re hopeless.”

“Mh.” Dina hummed taking another sip from her coffee.

  
  


__________________________

So, big problem.

While Jesse had spilled the beans about her and Ellie dating to April.. they may have or may have not noticed how they failed to correct April’s assumptions.

About “El”. 

Not.

Being a guy.

Which is why April’s expression was priceless when she finally realized that Jesse’s mysterious friend “Ellie” and Jesse’s best friend “El” (which happened to be dating Dina) were actually the same person.

Dina and Apirl reached the dorms in time with the sun setting. The first street lanterns already casting white light while the soft yellow-reddish light from the sky was still present.

In front of the building, leaning against her motorcycle on the sidewalk, was a certain redhead idly browsing through her phone, her other hand stuffed into the pocket of her black jacket, that she left unzipped, revealing a red flannel underneath. 

Upon hearing footsteps Ellie looked up, put her phone away, and straightened her back.

Dina never spend much thoughts about how Ellie might look to others. To her, Ellie was beautiful, in every way possible. 

But her tall and strong features, combined with her calm and confident attitude that she conveyed just by standing there might be interpreted differently. 

Taking into account the scar on her eyebrow that was slowly fading, the messy ponytail and the ripped jeans and big motorcycle she might also look the tiniest bit dangerous.

And then..her eyes.

Dark green eyes that looked at Dina as intensely as always. 

“Can we help you?” April asked defensively, stopping a good distance away from Ellie and grabbing Dina’s arm to stop her as well.

Ellie seemed confused but didn’t speak. Much like when she first met Dina. And Dina remembered how she didn’t speak much with her family as well, or at the wedding. 

“That’s April.” Dina supplied helpfully.

“Huuh.” Ellie nodded and moved towards them. Until she was standing in front of April, a few inches taller, and offered her hand.

“Ellie.”

April made no move to take it though.

“Ellie? As in Jesse’s friend Ellie?” April questioned confused and both other girls looked at each other in confusion. Dina had already told Ellie that April knew about their relationship - well, should know. 

Ellie draped one arm across Dina’s shoulders pulling her close to her chest, whispering. 

“What’s that all about?”

“I don’t know.” Dina answered just as silently. “If she’s joking, I don’t get it.”

When Dina turned around again, April had her open mouth covered with both hands, her eyebrows nearly disappearing in her hairline as her eyes were as big as humanly possible.

“EL! Oh my god! She’s Ellie!” April gasped.

Arm still around Dina’s shoulders she looked from her girlfriend to the shocked girl. “I just said so, didn’t I?”

Dina just shrugged helplessly.

With cheeks red as a tomato April tried her best to keep a straight face. “Well.. uh.. I’ll leave you to have.. a nice d-date?”

Dina just nodded, when April said her good-bye and ran off.

“What was that all about?” Dina muttered watching her friend disappear at the end of the road.

“You sure you did tell her about us?” Ellie asked and Dina nodded absentmindly.

“Mh.” Ellie hummed, reaching for Dina’s hand and squeezing it lightly, the soft gesture making the shorter girl smile adoringly. A warm hug and a soft kiss on the lips did lighten the mood instantly, before they slowly made their way to the bike. 

“You did tell her you’re dating a girl though, right?” Ellie asked and Dina stopped dead in her tracks.

  
  


__________________________

Ellie’s laughing fit after that was so intense that they had to wait a few moments for her to calm down before actually driving back to Ellie’s apartment. 

Dina was still pouting when she kicked off her shoes in a similar way her girlfriend always did and immediately let herself fall on one of the chairs in tiny kitchen area with a heavy sigh.

“Hey, I’m sure it’ll be okay.” Ellie said trying not to sound too amused. Offering Dina a glass of water after having the first sip of it.

“You’re still grinning like an idiot.” Dina muttered, accepting the glass.

“I’m allowed to.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

“How comes?”

And she was sure -  _ she was goddamn sure _ \- Ellie waited on purpose until Dina started drinking before answering:

“Because my girlfriend is fucking cute.”

And suddenly Dina had a hard time swallowing her water.

  
  


__________________________

Dina put the empty glass in the sink.

“You did that on purpose.”

“Did not.”

“You did.”

“Nuh-uh.” There was a small smile on Ellie’s face as she was standing in front of Dina, her arms snaking around her middle, pulling her smaller frame against the strong body. Dina tried to keep pouting - really, she tried - but seeing Ellie like this had her lips curling upward on their own accord.

She looked down quickly trying to hide her stupid smile. But that seemed to be fine with Ellie as the taller girl rested her chin on Dina’s head. 

“I’m sure it’ll be okay. Really.” Ellie promised, softly, in her usual calm voice that Dina had loved from the very beginning.

Dina pressed her face against the other girls shoulder, and felt the arms around her tighten instantly. Taking deep breaths, inhaling Ellie’s scent, she wondered how just being hugged can be the solution to all her problems.

It made no sense.

But it worked.

“Hey,” Ellie whispered, “You ok?”

“Is that your pick-up phrase?” Dina tried to joke but her voice was muffled as her face was completely pressed into the fabric of Ellie’s flannel.

Ellie’s chuckle was soft. “Worked for you, didn’t it?”

“Yea.” 

  
  


__________________________

Thursday - week 11

The next time Dina saw April was the next morning in the cafeteria. 

They usually met here whenever there was time in between classes, so it was no surprise to find April and Jesse at a table on the far end of the hall.

Jesse currently laughing so hard that his eyes were teary.

April’s face was red. Deep red. But she grinned at Dina when she was met with a similar expression.

This whole situation was just too funny.

“Okay.” Dina stated as calmly as possible when she sat down, addressing Jesse. “It makes a little bit sense now.”

“What?” he managed to stop laughing enough to answer but still wore a mischievous grin that rivaled Ellie’s. 

“Your friendship with Ellie.”

“Why?”

Dina’s lips twitched upwards as she tried not to smile. “Because that was exactly her reaction when she found out that we might have missed a point.”

And when all three of them shared a laugh Dina felt significantly better.

  
  


__________________________

Friday - week 11

On Friday the temperatures dropped quite a bit. The park was too cold to visit for a long period of time. Which is why both girls were comfortably sitting on Ellie’s bed, leaning against the wall.

Dina was browsing through her phone while Ellie was hugging her guitar and ‘playing’ one chord every few seconds. 

Visiting Ellie didn’t feel like a date anymore as Dina had spent the majority of her week here anyway. A tiny part of her had feared that the weird attraction to Ellie would go away if she spent so much time with her, but nothing the like happened. 

If nothing else, it only got worse.

Which was good.

Oddly enough. 

Because every smile from Ellie made her smile, too.

And just sharing the bed, cuddled against her girlfriend was the best thing in the world.

“The moth.” Dina said eventually, putting away her phone.

Ellie looked at her curiously, stopping the vibration of the guitar strings with her flat hand.

“The moth. On your arm. On your guitar.” Dina clarified. “Where was it first?”

The dreamy smile on Ellie’s face as she looked down to her guitar was actually answer enough, but Ellie spoke anyway.

“Don’t laugh, okay?”

Dina nodded instantly.

“I had the moth tattooed back when this was still Joel’s guitar.”

“Joel being your..” She wanted to ask of he was Ellie’s dad, but Dina was pretty sure that if that was the case Ellie wouldn’t be so careful when talking about him. “..old man?” 

“Yea.”

There was a long silence, but since Ellie did not continue playing Dina somehow knew the topic wasn’t finished yet, so she remained quiet, leaning her head against Ellie’s shoulder.

“Do you wanna… meet him?” Ellie asked cautiously and Dina tried her best not to look too surprised. She turned her head to look up at Ellie.

“I’d like to.”

Ellie still wasn’t playing.

“He’s a bit grumpy.” 

“He seemed to be…”  _ a lot like you. _ “ … pretty nice when he talked to me on the phone.”

Ellie smiled and nodded.

Her hands moving again to make the strings vibrate. 

  
  


__________________________

Tuesday - week 12

This had to be one of the most ridiculous days of her entire life. 

When one of their morning classes suddenly was cancelled Dina and April decided to spent the free time by sitting in their usual spot in the cafeteria. But upon entering the large room that was already smelling like lunch-was-ready even though it was barely 11 am Dina was greeted with a sight she never expected to see.

For 14 months she had tried to get Jesse to invite his best friend Ellie to eat lunch with them, and he always - always declined. And now, just like that, the weirdest friends the world must have ever seen were sitting on top of one of the many tables of the cafeteria. 

Well. Jesse was sitting on the table. Ellie was laying on her back, one arm under her head, facing the ceiling. Their conversation... well.. 

“Noodles.” Jesse said as if it was the answer to all problems.

“Sandwich.” Ellie said, convinced. 

“Hot soup.” Jesse immediately answered. _Was this supposed to be an argument?_

“That’s an adjective, that does not count.” And even though Ellie was still laying on her back, she hit Jesse on the arm. Full force.

“Pffff, Hamburger then.” Apparently this was their normal behavior though.

“Okay, Roast beef.”

“Fish.”

“Urgh, again the ‘H’... ” Ellie sighed.

“Yep. Only fair.”

“Hungry.”

“That’s an adjective.” Jesse informed her with a sly grin.

“But it's true. I am hungry.”

“Well, you seem to be talking about food for quite a while now, huh?” Dina said to make herself known.

Two pairs of eyes instantly looked at her, and the way Ellie’s green ones lit up made Dina bit her lip as she walked over to the table they .. occupied.

April following her with a sigh muttering something that sounded like “hopeless.”

“Hey.” Dina said, watching Ellie sitting up on the table, putting her feet on two nearby chairs, as the dark haired girl stood in front of her maybe a foot away.

Ellie reached for Dina’s waist. Her index finger snaking through one belt loop of Dina’s dark jeans pulling her closer until she stood between Ellie’s thighs.

“Hey.” Ellie answered, both girls actually being on the same eye level for once.

“I hope I wasn’t interrupting your heated discussion.”

“That’s alright. I did win anyway.” Ellie said confidently, before Jesse hit the back of her head.

“You did not.” He informed Ellie.

“Gimme a second.” Ellie said sweetly to Dina before letting go of her waist, and turned around to shove Jesse off the table with incredible force. Snickering when he actually fell all the way down to the floor. 

While Jesse was getting onto his feet again, one hand raised in a fist and a wicked smile on his face, Ellie quickly grabbed Dina’s waist again, pulling her close to her chest.

“You can’t hit me now, I’m cuddling my girlfriend.” Ellie grinned, and _clearly_ , that must have been a well-established rule between both of them because Jesse indeed let his fist sink and grumbled something.

“Jealous much?” 

“You and me, Williams.” He checked the clock on the cafeteria wall. “In 4 hours.”

Ellie’s grin was mischievous as she nodded.

  
  


__________________________

Dina didn’t question the split lip when Ellie picked her up in the late afternoon. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hello there and welcome back to part 4!
> 
> Well, actually it's part 4.1  
> My chapter-planing still sucks.  
> This entire chapter was one sentence in the original summary I wrote before starting the story.
> 
> Does anyone know where you get those fancy beta persons? I fell like I might need one. If I keep this up, I might as well try to produce quality content, right?  
> Okay..no..that sounded far more confident than i'm feeling right now, lol.
> 
> As always,  
> I hope you won't be disappointed.  
> All your comments made me extremly happy and I'll try my best to make you happy as well.  
> So, uh.  
> I hope you enjoy 'Dina in Jackson - Part 1.'
> 
> Thank you so much for all of your support <3

__________________________

Friday - week 12

In the early afternoon, right after her classes had ended, Dina had made her way to the train station. A backpack with all the necessities for the next three days on her back she climbed the stairs to platform 3 where Ellie was waiting for her, currently looking at the rails and seeming to be deep in thoughts. 

Ellie had been awfully quiet ever since she had asked Dina on wednesday if she wanted to join her for a weekend back in Jackson as long as the weather was still a tiny bit sunny. So Dina wasn’t surprised that when Ellie did spot her she only reached for Dina’s hand and pulled her into a hug.

“Hey.” Dina greeted as normally as possible, her hands sneaking between the soft fabric of the deep red hoodie and the not so soft fabric of the black jacket Ellie was wearing. 

Ellie rested her forehead on Dina’s shoulder, her arms both wrapped around the shorter girl’s waist. “Mh hey.” The redhead answered eventually in a content sigh. 

The train wasn’t scheduled to arrive for at least twenty more minutes so they just stood there, holding each other in a warm hug. 

Dina was convinced that Ellie normally wouldn’t take the train to get home. And when she had asked Ellie about it earlier this week, she learned that the only reason they’re taking the longer option was that Ellie didn’t want Dina to “feel cold for five hours straight”. 

As sweet as that statement was, it had her confused for a second. She originally thought that it would take longer to get to Jackson, recalling how Ellie had said that she was “half way there” when she left the hospital - that seemed like ages ago. But Ellie explained that Jackson was just easier to reach from Dina’s home town.

A mechanical voice eventually announced the train arriving. And they soon found themselves sitting in a rather empty compartiment in what turned out to be a waaay too long train. A small desk between two equally small benches facing each other but they only occupied one of them.

Ellie was leaning against the glass of the window, Dina was leaning against Ellie and even though the small bench was designed as a space for two, with the way they were cuddled against each other half of the bench was left empty.

Head against Ellie’s her shoulder, Dina could feel the taller girl’s heart beating rapidly, and she smiled knowingly. When looking at Ellie, the words “calm” and “quiet” suddenly became the very opposite of each other.

Because a calm Ellie was a relaxed and confident Ellie; and a quiet Ellie was nervous but tried her hardest not to let it show. 

Dina reached for the tattooed hand that was protectively wrapped around her middle and squeezed the long fingers softly.

“It’ll be alright, you know?” 

Ellie didn’t answer, only tightened her hug a little bit more. She didn’t say anything for a long time and if it wasn’t for the constant rattling of the train, the compartment would have been completely silent. 

Eventually her thumb started stroking Dina’s hand as if Dina was the one in need of consolation. The dark haired girl smiled as she leaned against her girlfriend, her cheek on Ellie’s shoulder, and they both were just looking outside the window in silence.

Ever so often the movements of Ellie’s thumb would slow down, then nearly stop completely for a moment before Ellie’s grip tightened for a split second and then she resumed her actions. 

When Ellie slowed down for the fourth time, Dina glanced up carefully just in time to see Ellie’s eyelids close, her entire posture relaxing for a short amount of time before something had her blinking rapidly. She was so clearly fighting to fall asleep, that Dina couldn’t help but think it was adorable. 

She briefly wondered if Ellie had slept at all tonight. It could not have her  _ that _ nervous now, could it? 

The redheads eyes closed yet again and Dina sat up a bit straighter, bringing a bit of space between them but turned towards Ellie completely; so she could reach for Ellie’s face. Green eyes immediately looked at her when she cupped Ellie’s cheek, her thumb stroking the freckled skin softly.

“Sleep a bit, it’ll be a few more hours.” They had just started their journey after all.

Ellie looked down sheepishly as if she was caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to do. Both her hands reached for Dina’s free hand, holding her smaller hand delicately in between hers. 

“I’m sorry that you always have to look out for me.” Ellie murmured and Dina thought that must be a joke. It was quite the opposite really, wasn’t it? Ellie had always been there for her. 

“Don’t be stupid.” Dina replied instantly, her voice a warm whisper. “We will always look out for each other, right?” 

And then Dina’s hand disappeared in the red strands, pulling out the hair tie and gently massaged the taller girl’s head, basically forcing Ellie to relax who let out a content sigh when she surrendered and her eyes closed once again.

As Dina suspected it didn’t take long for Ellie to drift off. She continued her actions for several more minutes before she was absolutely sure that Ellie was asleep. Her tall body leaning against the window, her hands still holding onto Dina’s free hand. Although a lot more loosely now. It would have been easy to free her hand. 

And still.. she didn’t.

__________________________

The enormous size of the train began to make more sense with every new station it stopped at. The compartiment was filling rapidly, Dina was leaning her back against the backrest of the bench, her feet pulled up onto the seat, her shins against the desk, using her thighs to rest her tablet on. Typing on the tablet’s screen was rather slow as she was only using her left hand, her right one still being held by a sleeping Ellie.

The quiet murmuring and the occasional laughter told her that someone must have occupied the seats across them by now but she paid no attention to that. It wasn’t until she reached for her water bottle which was standing on the table that she realized the two young men sitting across from her were watching her. Not even trying trying to be subtle about it. Which was making her feel really uncomfortable.

Upon realizing that Dina had indeed noticed them the smaller one received a sharp elbow in the rips from his taller friend. Prompting him to smile awkwardly and scribble something on the backside of what seemed to be a small receipt. And Dina cursed herself inwardly for reaching for the stupid bottle in the first place. 

_ Oh God… this has to be joke… _

_ He’s not really writing down his number now, is he? _

Suddenly Ellie stirred next to her and Dina looked at her in time to see her green eyes blinking down in confusion where Dina wasl squeezing Ellie’s hands. Oops. 

She hadn’t realized she was doing that. But she was kind of happy that she did.

She quickly loosened her grip but didn’t pull away and when Ellie’s eyes found hers she instantly felt better. 

Trying to understand to the situation Ellie looked at Dina’s face inquisitively for a few heartbeats before her eyes wandered and eventually landed on the young man that had indeed been scribbling a number onto his little piece of paper and was now pushing it across the table with a wink.

Dina wanted to roll her eyes at that.

But she didn’t need to.

Because Ellie did.

And Ellie’s eyes-rolling was far more intimidating. With her still healing split lip, the scar in her eyebrow and the loose strands falling into her face. Her expression still tired and so very very annoyed.

“Oh, fuck off.” she muttered not really addressing anyone as she sat up from her sleeping position against the window, rolling her stiff shoulders once, only to put her arm possessively around Dina shoulder’s then, her other hand resting on Dina’s knee - clearly visible for anyone thanks to Dina’s current sitting position.

Well, that’s one way to deal with that.

Dina had a hard time fighting against the stupid grin that threatened to show on her face since Ellie acted so protective towards her. Biting her lip didn’t help, she must be grinning like an idiot. Her hand began to comb through Ellie’s hair again on its own accord when the taller girl rested her cheek against Dina’s head watching the tablet’s screen idly.

They both silently agreed to just ignore the murmurs that could be heard from across the table. And after that, Ellie didn’t stay awake for too long, but Dina did not expected her to either - running her nails over the back of Ellie’s skull has proven to be a very effective method to lull the taller girl into sleep.

__________________________

When they finally arrived, not in Jackson but in the next larger city close to Jackson, the weather was still nice, but cold. The sun was turning orange as it started to hide behind the hills.

Ellie was holding Dina’s hand as they left the train station, and walked down the street to a large parking lot. Between all the city cars of different shapes and sizes one in particular stood out.

A green land rover with a few mud stains did not really fit the image of the city. A tall blond woman leaning against it, although she had already spotted the girls from a far, it wasn’t until Ellie and Dina actually reached the car that she stood up straight. 

Her blue eyes were on Dina.

“Well, that’s a surprise.” her voice was warm but her posture gave her so much authority that Dina did not know what to say. “Maria.” she introduced herself, extending her arm and something about this woman reminded Dina of the military.

“I’m Dina,” she reached for Maria’s hand which was even bigger than Ellie’s. “It’s nice to meet you.” She remembered Ellie telling her about Maria. 

“Oh, yes.” Maria laughed. “It’s nice to meet you too.” Her smile was warm and Dina smiled back, eventually Maria let go of her hand to pat Ellie on the back, or...smack Ellie on the back with a bit more force than necessary making the redhead hunch her shoulders in defense. 

“Still as lanky as ever, i see. You need to put on a bit more weight, Ellie.” Maria commented jokingly before making her way to the driver’s seat and Dina was sure she saw Ellie pout for a second. “Alright, get in the car so we can reach Jackson before it gets dark.”

Ellie muttered something unintelligible when she open the car door for Dina, though she didn’t let go of Dina’s hand, motoning for her to scoot over as soon as the dark haired girl was in the car.

__________________________

It took them maybe fifteen minutes until they reached Jackson. Maria was a speedy driver. Obviously knowing all the little flaws of the old roads by heart she maneuvered the land rover in record time through the forest. When Dina chanced a look at the tachometer, the blond woman explained that she had someone waiting for her at home.

A small village came into sight, which was completely surrounded by the woods and hills. As soon as she got out of the car Dina could hear the faint rustle of a river in the distance.

Shutting the engine and leaving the car in a quiet street, Maria and heading for one of the many small houses here with purposeful big steps, Maria only turned around to shout “I’ll see you two tomorrow!” 

Ellie didn’t answer.

“It’s beautiful here.” Dina commented trying to get her girlfriend to talk. Or well, to make her say anything. Ellie had been awfully quiet in the car. It was starting to worry her. “Ellie?” Dina queried when there was still no reaction.

“Huuuh, uh, yeah.” 

Dina looked at her inquisitively before Ellie sighed and let her shoulders drop. ".... 'm sorry." 

“What’s on your mind?” 

Ellie was looking at Maria who was currently unlocking the front door of a white two story building, green eyes seemingly avoiding eye contact. There was a silence as they watched Maria getting inside. The door closed.

"Do you think… uh, that i'm too thin Dina?" 

“That you’re… Oh, Ellie.” And if Dina would have had any doubt that Maria was important to Ellie, the fact that her rather jokingly spoken words had such a heavy impact on the tall girl was proof enough.

She wrapped her arms around Ellie’s waist, looking up at her with a smile though Ellie was still avoiding eye contact, the softest shade of red tinted her cheeks. 

“I told you before..” They were alone in the street, no sight of any other person and still Dina’s voice was soft, quiet. The situation turning intimate very quickly. “..to me, you’re perfect.”

She could see Ellie biting her lip as an involuntary smile spread on her lips. And Dina felt proud to be the reason for that. Ellie shook her head with a small laugh.

“You’re amazing, Dina.”

__________________________

They walked down the streets in a comfortable silence, until they reached Ellie’s home. The house wasn’t as big as the rest, but since it was the last of the road it seemed to claim the entire open fields behind it as its garden. 

Ellie reached for her keys.

“Any last tips for me?” So maybe it was now Dina’s turn to feel just a little bit nervous.

“Hm?”

“Well, uh, i do want to make a good first impression..?”

“Don’t worry.” Ellie answered easily. “Not liking you is not an option.” And with that the lock clicked and the door opened.

The entire ground floor seemed to be one single big room. Kitchen on one side, stairs leading up to the first floor on the opposite wall, and the entire space in the middle was supposed to be the living room. 

The walls an earthy beige, decorated with guitars, giant album covers and photos. An incredible amount of books, cds and vinyl records was stored in different kind of shelves - all of various sizes and colours. Actually the entire furniture seemed to be a bit mismatched but each piece had its purpose and fit in the room in its own way.

A man was standing in the kitchen, tall and broad, but with his back to them as he was facing the counter, chopping something. “You’re late.” he grumbled not even bothering to turn around. 

“We took the train.” Ellie answered, kicking her shoes off.

Something about her answer made him stop his actions and turn around. His expression and posture was as calm as Ellie’s when his eyes landed on Dina.

“Ah.”

And then continued preparing food as if this was an everyday occurrence. 

“My room is upstairs, second one on the right. Uh, if you want to bring your backpack there.” Ellie informed her quietly when Dina had put off her shoes.

She nodded when her mind translated Ellie’s words into something else. Ellie wanted to talk to Joel. 

“Bathroom?”

“On the opposite of my room.”

“Alright.” And after squeezing Ellie’s hand she made her way upstairs.

__________________________

Making sure to take just a little bit longer with everything to give Ellie some alone time with Joel, Dina eventually came downstairs a few minutes later. 

Ellie was now standing next to Joel, telling him something as she helped him in the kitchen. She couldn’t hear anything from here, but she didn’t really needed to. She just watched for a moment.

Something that Ellie had said made Joel stop his actions and look at the red haired girl whose shoulders dropped in defeat before he reached for her, putting a strong arm around her shoulder in a very familiar way. 

Dina had been on the receiving end of that hug countless times by now.

Her lips curled upwards when looking at them hugging each other.

But the moment was short lived as Ellie suddenly made some witty comment (judging by her expression) and jokingly hit Joel in the ribs with her elbow. Which earned her a hit on the back of her head.

Dina slowly made her way to them. “Can I maybe help with something?”

“Yea.” Joel grumbled instantly, returning to his work. “Take this useless kid out of my kitchen.”

“Hey! I’m not that useless.” 

“I know.” Dina said with a smile reaching for Ellie’s hand and pulling her away from the counter. ”You can boil water.”

__________________________

They were sitting in Ellie’s room, on the bed. Another rather broad bed, Dina noticed as she crawled over the mattress to sit down with her back against the wall, legs stretched out on the comforter. 

Ellie changed her warm hoodie for a simple black T-shirt that covered her entire upper arms with its giant sleeves. And Dina had a hard time looking away while Ellie was changing. That was until she noticed all the pictures on the wall above Ellie’s desk.

Black and white drawings of various sizes. Most of them showing a majestic stag, others showing different kinds of animals of the forest or a few trees.

“You draw?”

Ellie somehow nodded and shrugged at the same time.

“They’re beautiful.” 

“Barely.”

“I mean it.”

Ellie didn’t answer. She was looking at the pictures that were pinned to the wall messily, probably some even hidden underneath others. There was clearly a story behind them.

“Hey, come here.” Dina patted the spot next to her on the mattress, and Ellie complied instantly, sitting next to Dina her back resting against the wall as well.

“You’re spacing out a lot today.”

Dina reached for her tattooed hand and intertwining their fingers. 

“..’sorry.”

“Is there something that bothers you?”

Ellie was watching their hands silently and eventually nodded.

“I’m not ...the most normal person.”

Dina had to smile at these words. “Hate to break it to you but i might have noticed that already.”

Even Ellie chuckled at that.

“You’re amazing, Dina.” She said again shaking her head in disbelief.

“You’re the perfect one here.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

“No, I’m..“ Ellie sounded frustrated, searching for words. “..maybe.. I have issues.” Ellie’s shoulders sacked again and she looked defeated. 

_ Oh. _ Ever since Linda’s wedding Ellie had carefully avoided anything that might lead them to this subject, and now she was the one to bring it up? Dina’s heart was racing. Knowing that Ellie wanted to talk to her about what she clearly considered her own weakness, made her feel a bit nervous. But she would do her damn best to stay calm for Ellie. 

“Hey.” Dina said softly, but there was no reaction from the taller girl. She just looked down.

In an attempt to get her attention, Dina crawled closer to Ellie, straddling her lap, one knee on each side of Ellie’s hips, and when confused eyes looked up, Dina cupped Ellie’s face with both hands, keeping their eyes locked.

Ellie looked like she was about to cry.

Her thumbs stroked the freckled skin in the a soothing way, trying to calm her.

“Hey.” Dina whispered again, she didn’t need to talk louder since they were so close to each other, this time the green were eyes focused on her. “How about this..” She leaned in to kiss Ellie softly, just a second, before pressing their foreheads together.

“.. you tell me as much as you’re comfortable with..”

Ellie’s eyes were teary and Dina’s throat hurt while speaking.

“..and I, I’ll be there for you, remember? I promised you.” Her thumb swiping away a tear that escaped from Ellie’s eyes. And Dina, who felt like crying too, tried her best to stay calm.

“I’ll hold you if you cry.” Easier said than done. A crying Ellie would certainly make Dina cry as well. 

Another soft kiss. “And when you’re done..” she gulped.  _ Ever since when was speaking so hard?  _ “When you’re done..” she tried again, her voice hoarse. “I’ll tell you just how much.. how much I love you. and then everything will be good, right?”

And when she kissed Ellie again it tasted salty, but the tension was slowly fading and Dina actually smiled when strong arms wrapped around her, pressing her against an equally strong body.

“You’re amazing, Dina.” Ellie said, again. And Dina chuckled even though she still felt like crying.

“You said that already.” Dina sniffed. “Twice.”

“Good.”

__________________________

  
  


But before they could discuss anything further, dinner was ready. Maybe that was good. Because when Dina’s rapidly beating heart finally calmed down she felt like starving.

“So, what are your plans for tomorrow?” Joel eventually asked when the three of them were eating at the kitchen table. 

Even though he had noticed Ellie’s redded eyes he didn’t say anything. The dynamic between Ellie and Joel was odd to watch. One second they’d share knowing glances that seem to convey much more words than any sentences ever could and then they’re making of fun each other.

“Mh, if the weather stays nice, maybe taking Callus and head for the woods?” The question was addressed to Dina who smiled and nodded.

“Make sure to be back in time for whatever Maria has planned.” He didn’t sound too happy about that, though.

“Uh.” Ellie rolled her eyes. “She probably wants all of us over for dinner to get to know you, Dina.” she explained helpfully.

“One should think the woman has enough to do with that blasted baby. Always sticking her nose in things… ” Joel muttered.

“Don’t call him a ‘blasted baby’ now.” Ellie grinned. “I saw you making faces at him last time, you looked fucking stupid.”

Joel only grumbled at that. 

Dina was happy to see Ellie grinning like that. 

__________________________

It was the second that Ellie closed the door of her room that all the tension threatened to come back.

“Today, uh.” Ellie started, standing in front of Dina and reaching for her hand. “For today, can we just go to sleep?”

Dina smiled. “Sure.”

Even though it wasn’t all that late yet, they didn’t waste any time until they were cuddled against each other under the warm comforter. At some point Ellie had rolled onto her back, pulling the shorter girl with her, so that Dina’s head was on Ellie’s shoulder and Dina’s leg was hugging the thin hips underneath her.

Ellie’s hand was travelling up and down Dina’s spine in a soothing manner and while the feeling was absolutely heavenly Dina inwardly scolded herself for enjoying this so much. She was supposed to make Ellie feel better, not the other way around. 

“Ellie..”

“Hm?”

“You don’t have to do this.. you know. Telling me anything, I mean. If it makes you uncomfortable then - ”

“I want to.” Ellie said, a little bit too quickly, then sighed. “I just don’t know how to do this.”

Honestly, Dina didn’t know. She just hugged Ellie tighter, pressing her cheek against the taller girl’s shoulder. “Joel’s not your dad, is he?”

Ellie actually chuckled a bit and Dina could feel the vibrations of her body. The mood was so much lighter than just a few hours ago, it made her smile a bit. Ellie’s voice was calm as she spoke, that beautiful voice Dina loved so much.

“He’s not.. really. Well, maybe a bit. He, uh... Yeah okay, so maybe he’s like a father to me.”

“For how long?” Dina asked cautiously and was surprised by how easy Ellie answered, she could basically her a small smile in her voice.

“Ever since I was eleven.” 

“Sounds like a good memory?”

“Oh, well.” And she felt Ellie take a deep breath, and bury her face in Dina’s hair. “So I might have been a horrible kid. Anger issues, foul mouth, full of stupid ideas.” She eventually started and Dina wanted to say something to cheer her up but at the same time she didn’t want to interrupt her. 

“One of the stupid ideas being that I don’t need anybody else and that I can survive on my own. So I ran away.”

“When you were eleven?” 

“Yeah. Uh. At that time I was living with a foster family - that was back in Boston, but the relationship wasn’t all that great so it took them four days to report me missing and my file ended up on Joel’s task force. By then I might have realized that the idea wasn’t all that great.” 

Ellie stopped there, unsure how to continue and Dina suspected like that whatever happened in these four days must have been the hard part to talk about. Especially when Ellie just skipped that part.

“So, short version is, he found me when I was in a tight spot. And eventually he took me in and we moved here and well.. ”

“It’s all better now?” Dina offered, trying to lift the mood. There was no need to push Ellie, she already felt bad for making her talk about that at all. They didn’t know each other for that long and it’s not like Ellie had to do this. It had been just Dina’s curiosity. The easy question let the taller girl relax underneath her.

“Oh, it is.” Ellie replied warmly without any hesitation and Dina felt a kiss on top of her head. “So much better.” And the serious topic was officially dismissed when Ellie’s hand had found its new favorite spot on Dina’s thigh, trailing over the skin with her nails and making the shorter girl shiver.

The silence that followed was comfortable. Dina basically clung to Ellie, face buried in the fabric of Ellie’s shirt, not even trying to hide the fact that she was breathing in Ellie’s scent. And Ellie’s hand didn’t stop moving, agonizingly slow and Dina was convinced that Ellie was very well aware of the effect she had on her when the redhead chuckled as Dina’s fingers pressed into the skin of her arm. 

“You’re teasing me.” Dina informed her, voice muffled by the way her face was still pressed against the black shirt.

Ellie hummed. “You’re quite sensitive.” She said as if that would explain her actions, nails running down the skin of Dina’s thigh in a long motion to further prove her point.

“Oh really?” Dina managed eventually.

“Mh hm.” Ellie did sound very pleased with herself. And a small grin appeared on Dina’s face when an idea formed in her mind.

“Well..I’m not the only one.” Dina said confidently.

“Huh. what makes yo - ”

And Ellie’s entire body stiffened again when Dina’s hand stroked over her stomach in one very slow motion. And that was just the beginning. Dina giggled when she sat up, straddling the taller girls hips, the gleam in her brown eyes being the last warning before she actually started to tickle Ellie.

“Wha - Dina - ! ”

Turns out  _ “just a bit ticklish”  _ was actually  _ “very very ticklish” _ . 

Because the action had Ellie squirming and laughing within the first second, and her movements were clumsy as she tried to get a hold on Dina’s hands to stop her. The laugh was incredibly infectious.

Dina’s hands found their way under the black fabric as she avoided being caught by Ellie; managing to escape the inevitable for a few more seconds.

Eventually Ellie got a hold of Dina’s wrists, with that strong grip that she knew from Ellie - reminding her of the strength those arms possessed but never hurting her in any way.

Ellie was catching her breath, her chest rising and falling heavily, her hair messy, her cheeks flushed a lovely red from laughing; or maybe because Dina was still sitting on top of her. Because Ellie looked up at her with an expression that Dina couldn’t describe, but feel. 

She practically felt the way Ellie’s eyes watched her, slowly travelling up and down her body, clearly lingering a tad longer on her thighs and left shoulder, where the too-big-shirt she picked from Ellie’s wardrobe was slipping down, revealing toned skin. Just toned skin, not even a bra strap.

And even though that was no secret, since both of them slept with just the shirt against their skin from the very beginning, the visual reminder made Ellie bit her lip. And when intense green eyes locked with Dina’s, her heart was beating loud enough to be deafening.

“You got me.” Dina eventually whispered, referring to her wrists that were still in Ellie’s hands.

Ellie just nodded, though she did not loosen her grip. Not once stopping to look up at Dina as if she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

It wasn’t until Dina lifted her hands a bit that Ellie released her hold on her. “..Sorry.”

“I didn’t complain, did I?” Dina asked with a smile, guiding Ellie’s hands back to her thighs. Apparently there’s a big difference between feeling Ellie’s hands on her skin and actually seeing Ellie’s hands while she was touching her skin. Because right now, breathing was incredibly hard.

Especially when Ellie had that dreamy smile on her face again.

“No, no you didn’t.”

Dina bit her lip as Ellie’s hands travelled up along the side of her thighs, along the side of her hip, further and further, until they disappeared under her shirt. Stopping right under her ribs. The thumb stroking the soft skin while her palm and fingers had a strong hold of her body. Dina was sure Ellie could lift her up like that. 

Well, she didn’t.

She pulled Dina down.

Until Dina had to press first both of her hands into the mattress to steady herself, then her elbows as well. Her dark hair falling down like a curtain around both of them. Ellie only had to lift her head a few inches to kiss Dina. As slowly and as intense as always. First, just capturing her lips, and tasting Dina with passion until the soft sounds of lips connecting was mixed with heavy breathing and the occasional soft moan. Again and again. The slow pace allowing them to breathe enough to keep going. And Dina didn’t know for how long the just kissed. 

When her muscles trembled from the position, she let herself fall against Ellie who didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Hands finally free to roam Dina combed through the red hair, and clung to Ellie’s arm when they rolled to the side, facing each other. Her leg still around Ellie’s hip. 

Ellie was caressing the skin under Dina’s rips even when the kisses stopped eventually. And after a shaking breath said the most beautiful words on earth.

“I love you, Dina.”

It had been Dina who said it first, well, kind of.. And somehow they both knew about their feelings, but she still had a hard time trying not to cry when she snuggled against Ellie’s chest. 

“I love you, too.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, hello.  
> I apologize for the wait... My week had been quite stressful.   
> I could not even reply to all these lovely comments, but waaaaah they made me so happy D:
> 
> Buuuuut. I did found a fancy person to help me!  
> Thank you for spending hours on finding my mistakes T_T

__________________________

Saturday - week 12

When Dina woke up the next morning, Ellie was still sleeping soundly. Well, that was a first. Dina had become used to being greeted by Ellie the second she woke up. Sleeping Dina had apparently decided that Ellie’s upper arm was a good pillow, since that’s how she had woke up. Her cheek against Ellie’s arm, her hand on the taller girls stomach and their legs intertwined.

Pushing herself up on her arms Dina looked down at the redhead. 

Ellie was laying on her back, both arms splayed out across the mattress. Her chest rising and falling evenly with each deep breath. Red hair messily splayed over the pillow as Dina had taken Ellie’s hair tie out again the previous night.

She could spend hours watching Ellie sleeping. That was probably the reason why Ellie never tried to wake her up. It was really peaceful. She wanted to just curl against her and stay in bed for the rest of the day. The only thing keeping her from doing so was the low growl from her stomach. Moving as slowly as possible Dina tried her best not to wake her sleeping girlfriend when she got up and left the room quietly.

Reaching the last step of the stairs and heading for the kitchen Dina felt just a little bit out of place. Being the only one awake and searching for food in a kitchen that wasn’t hers did not seem too normal. She wondered if her task to make as little noise as possible made her look even more suspicious when she opened the fridge super slowly, reaching for the milk.

“Mornin’...”

Ok, so she wasn’t the only one awake.

At the sound of a deep voice approaching, Dina turned around in record time, nearly dropping the milk in the process. Joel however did not seem too bothered by her as he headed for the coffee machine without any hesitation.

“Oh, good morning.” Dina eventually greeted.

“You drink coffee?” 

“Uh, Yes, sure.” Maybe she should have said please?

He simply nodded still facing the counter instead of Dina. The silence in the room was only broken by the soft sounds of the coffee machine for several minutes. Standing in front of the the kitchen table, Dina reached for a tangerine, starting to peel it slowly to occupy herself as she wasn’t sure what to say.

Looking around in the kitchen her eyes fell once again on the fridge. That was apparently also used as a giant notepad, since a few dozen little notes and photos were attached to its front with little magnets of different shapes. From colorful little stars to simple rectangular red and blue magnets that looked like someone had sneaked them out of an old office.

She saw the picture of Joel and the blonde girl from Ellie’s phone. There was a short instruction on what setting of the microwave fits best for heating up food. A phone number of the local doctor’s office. A small piece of a newspaper only showing the words “Shooting Stars”.

Another picture showing four people in the forest: Joel, Ellie, Maria and the last one Dina did not recognize, he looked quite similar to Joel. Maybe his brother? A younger Ellie stood proudly on a tree stump that made her just a bit taller than everyone around her. 

There is also a note, written in a childish font, every letter in a slightly different size than the last stating: Joel’s in charge.

“Ellie still asleep?” A weak attempt at small talk, but it was very much welcome.

“Yes.” Dina smiled. “She didn’t even notice me getting up.”

“Mh. She did look pretty tired yesterday.”

“Yea, I think she was...” Dina paused, searching for words. 

Joel turned around to look at her, waiting patiently for her to continue. She had only known Ellie for a few weeks, this man actually raised her. Was it really alright to just make assumptions about Ellie in front of him? 

“I think she was kind of worried. About me… being here.” 

“You’ll learn that that kid likes to overthink things.” He grumbled in affirmation before taking two cups and filling them. “She means well, she’s just shit at expressing herself.”

“That’s alright.” Dina said with more confidence than she felt. “I think I’m starting to learn how to read her.”

__________________________

“Oooh… Holy… ” 

“What’s wrong?”

“I mean, I knew the picture was large but I never thought he’d be that...tall.” 

Ellie just smiled proudly, patting the neck of the giant reddish-brown horse that seemed to be very happy to see her as it nodded its head up and down. Poking Ellie with its nose ever so often. Admittedly, Dina didn’t have much experience with horses but nonetheless she was sure that the height of this one was not necessarily ordinary.

It had been late in the morning when they had finally left the house, and walked the short distance to a large field where some horses were eating the high grass peacefully. A certain brown fellow had seemed to have recognized his owner instantly and had been heading for the fence before Ellie could even point out to Dina which horse belonged to whom. 

“You’re not afraid of him, are you?” Ellie eventually asked when Dina didn’t move closer, staying a good two feet away from the fence. 

“Uh, not sure…?” 

“Callus is just a big baby, I promise. Here, gimme your hand.” She let Ellie guide her hand to the big brown nose, glad for the way the tall girl was still standing between her and the giant horse. Still unsure whether or not to be afraid. Well, that was until Callus was actually dodging her hand.

“Come on, big boy, that’s just Dina.” Ellie cooed softly, and with a tiny bit of effort Dina managed to smile. 

It took him a few more seconds until he was sure that Dina wasn’t a threat. She must have been doing something right as he demanded even more attention afterwards. Poking his nose at Dina in a similar way he did to Ellie.

When the his nose touched her cheek Dina actually giggled. “Hey!” With both hands against the horse’s face to keep him at a distance away from her own face she realized that Ellie must have stepped back at some point, and found her watching them with broad grin.

“I think he likes you.” 

__________________________

  
  


The weather predictions had been slightly wrong.

It was said to be sunny and not too cold all day, but all too soon the sun disappeared behind heavy clouds when the two girls were just about to leave for a ride. Ellie removed the saddle she had just put on Callus with a sad huff. Dina knew without ever asking that her girlfriend really liked riding Callus through the woods and it was kind of cute how proud she got when talking about her horse.

“We can still go?” Dina tried to cheer her up. “I mean..it’s a bit colder, but I'll just grab one of your warmer jackets?”

But Ellie shook her head. Sometimes Dina wished that Ellie would use just a few more words because she didn’t quite understand the situation. Ellie clearly had wanted to go, still seemed to want it but… She just watched Callus for a moment, who was nervously tapping the ground, and then the sky getting darker by the moments. And seemingly saw something that Dina didn’t see.

“That might get worse.” Ellie sighed.

All Dina could do was nod slowly, there was nothing she could have done to change that but Ellie seemed disappointed. And she didn’t like it.

“You sure love riding, huh?” Dina asked cautiously and was delighted when the question had the exact effect she had been hoping for: Ellie smiled. 

“Yea.” Slowly stroking the neck of the horse Ellie tried to calm him. 

“When did you learn it?” Just as Dina asked the question, it started to rain outside. She turned around to watch how the rain tinted the street and the soil just a slightly darker shade, and how the horses outside did not seem to mind the tiny raindrops in the slightest. 

“In my first year here.” Ellie answered from somewhere behind her, reminding Dina that she had just asked a question. And while she had secretly wished to continue the conversation from yesterday Dina would have never thought that this topic would come up so soon again.

Before Dina could ask anything else, a loud crash of thunder roared through the woods. Strong enough to feel the ground vibrate slightly, marking the start of a very heavy rain. Callus whined loudly, stamping his feet, trying to get away from where he was tied to the stable wall. Ellie tightened her hold on the reins with both hands trying to keep him in place.

So. The weather predictions had been very wrong. 

And Ellie had been right.

  
  


__________________________

When Dina arrived at Maria’s place her clothes were more than a little wet. The winds outside had picked up and were not helping her situation at all. Luckily she didn’t have to wait long outside because the door was instantly opened when she had knocked. 

“Oh, gods, Dina! You’re soaking.” Maria exclaimed as she pulled her inside before Dina could explain anything. Ellie was still somewhere on the field, bringing the other horses to the stables as quickly as possible. Knowing that she wouldn’t be that useful in helping her Dina had followed her advice to call Joel who then grumbled an order to go to Maria.

“It was supposed to be sunny today.” Dina muttered, kicking off her shoes in order to follow Maria into the living room. 

On the couch sat a man that Dina had seen earlier today. On a picture. On the fridge in Ellie’s home. Seeing him in person he looked even more like Joel. Upon hearing her entering he looked up at her.

“Hello.“ He greeted, his voice and attitude seeming far more laidback when compared to Joel. “You must be Dina?“

“Yes, that’s me.“ She answered, feeling just a tad stupid as she must be looking ridiculous from the rain now. 

“I’m Tommy. And that little fellow here is Michael.“ he explained before returning his attention to the baby laying in his lap. Little hands clumsily reaching for Tommy’s fingers. “Good thing you made it here in time. The weather in Jackson can change from one minute to the next. And this might get worse.” he said in a absolutely-not-fitting happy voice as he was still making faces for his newborn son who was giggling happily.

“Wait here for moment, will you?” Was all Maria had said before disappearing upstairs, leaving Dina standing in the living room, feeling very much out of place as water from her clothes was dripping onto the floor ever so often.

It didn’t take long though until Maria returned, giving her new clothes that were thankfully warm and dry and hushed her into the bathroom. “Hope this’ll do for now.”

“Well, they’re not as big as Ellie’s.” Dina joked when she left the bathroom, still adjusting the long sleeves that were nearly covering her wrists as well.

Maria rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh. The baby was now in her arms and fast asleep. Apparently Dina had taken longer than she thought. “That happens when you let one of those thick headed brothers buy clothes for a child.” 

Judging by Tommy’s expression that wasn’t the first time this topic came up. He looked very much annoyed when he let out a long deep breath, but Dina couldn’t help but smile. Maria calling Ellie “a child” was positively adorable. Maria was probably the closest thing to a mum Ellie had.

“That Joel would always buy the clothes way too large, claiming she’ll grow into it. I bet half the reason that girl grew so tall was because Joel expected her to.”

Speaking of Ellie had Dina looking outside where trees were bending under the force of the wind. The heavy rain had left the fields muddy and the streets turned into small rivers. She could only see a small part of the field from this living room and the view was clouded by the rain but there was still no sign of Ellie or Joel.

__________________________

  
  


Dina was sitting on the couch, drying her hair with a towel when an urgent knock could be heard. Quietly talking with Maria about the baby boy while she watched Tommy getting up to open the door. Dina couldn’t see the front door but the soft murmuring was definitely Ellie. She could hear her explaining something but the voice never came closer. Leaving Dina furrowing her brows and wanting to get up trying to see what could be going on.

“Maria!” Tommy suddenly yelled obviously forgetting about the baby in Maria’s arms that was woken up by his loud voice. The two women shared a confused glance before Maria carefully handed Michael to Dina. “I’ll be right back.”

She was happy that the little boy in her arms decided that sleeping was the better option as she had absolutely no idea how to handle a baby. 

Maria was hissing instructions at Ellie that included “Don’t you dare to come inside like this!” and “Hurry up and close the damn door!” as well as “How the hell did you manage that in the first place!” ending with “Don’t move. Stay there.” While Ellie wasn’t even able to reply once, or choose not to. 

It was when Maria hurried upstairs that Dina caught sight of Ellie - covered in mud from head to toe. Even her face so dirty that one could see the exact way Ellie had tried to get the dirt out of her eyes. The cleanest part were her socks now that she wasn’t wearing any shoes anymore.

“How...in the world…”

And even though Ellie could not have heard her she rubbed her neck and smiled at Dina sheepishly.

__________________________

Nearly half an hour later - after a much needed shower for Ellie - all of them were occupying the living room, even Joel who arrived a few minutes earlier. It was the first time that Dina had actually seen him smiling when he proudly told everyone about how one of the horses threw Ellie face forward into the mud.

Ellie was sitting on the far end of the couch cleaning the last of the stains on her phone with a pout on her face which only made Tommy laugh even harder.

“He got scared by the thunder, alright? That’s the only reason Dorito pushed me away.” Ellie mumbled not bothering to look up.

“Dorito?” That couldn’t really be the horse’s name now, right? 

“The light brown one with the dark mane.”

“Who would call a horse Dorito?” Dina did not even try to hide her confusion.

“Well about that...” Ellie started, putting down her phone. “That was your super creative ex-boyfriend.“

“So Jesse has a horse here?”

“He would visit over summer quite often actually. Well, he did.”

So Ellie and Jesse knew each other well before college? 

Dina rested her head on the taller girls shoulder with a sigh, trying to speak in a softer voice for only Ellie to hear. “You’re making it really hard not to ask about your past.”

“Who said you can’t ask about it?” Dina knew that Ellie would answer if she were to ask, but she didn’t want to push her, or pressure her into anything. The topic had seem to make her very uncomfortable yesterday. 

“I don’t want you to… uh… I mean, I’m just curious, alright? If you don't want to talk about something, just tell me?”

She looked up at Ellie while still leaning against her shoulder and was surprised to find her smiling. Or maybe Dina was just making a far more bigger deal out of this than it actually was. 

“Sure.” Ellie answered and Dina smiled back instantly.

“You could just make him pay for that. Saying you saved his beloved Dorito.” Tommy eventually said to Ellie completely unaware of the conversation going on between the two girls. “Maybe you should skip your graceful fall though.”

That earned him a eyeroll and a very vulgar gesture from Ellie that was stopped by Maria slapping her hand down.

“Ellie! Don't you have a girlfriend to impress? At least behave yourself for Dina’s sake!”

Instantly, Dina was pulled into a tight hug - though only by one strong arm. And judging by Maria’s groan of frustration and Joel’s chuckle the other arm was used for the very same gesture again. 

__________________________

Maria’s dinner plans turned into lunch plans since the rain and the thunderstorm forced them to stay inside anyway. While the dynamic of those four was a lot different than anything Dina was used to from her own family, it was still... sort of a family. 

Ellie had been right. Apparently all of that was just arranged to get to know Dina. Because even though Maria did not ask that many questions, she was watching Dina nearly the entire time.

“I’m sorry about that.” Ellie said when the rain had stopped and they were on their way back to Ellie and Joel’s house hand in hand. Joel was still watching a baseball game with Tommy back at Maria’s. “Maria tends to act like that sometimes.”

“Like she’s your mum?”

Ellie nodded. “Yea, kinda like that.” 

Eventually the two of them reached the house, and Dina was happy to change into a set of her own clothes. Ellie had picked one of the many guitars that were hanging on the wall in the living room and was now playing single chords while sitting on one of the big couches. Dina let herself fall onto the soft fabric beside her.

“And that? When did you learn that?” she asked eventually picking up the topic from the stables not so surprised to receive the exact same answer with the exact same smile. 

“In my first year here.”

“What else did you learn in your first year here?” 

“Mhm. Let’s see. Riding and playing guitar. Hunting. Swimming.” Each point was accompanied by a single chord. “Joel taught me how to defend myself. Tommy showed me how to work with wood and Maria…” The chords stopped when Ellie paused to think about her next words. 

“Maria had me reading books so that I wouldn’t have to repeat a year when I went back to school.”

“You didn’t go to school?”

After a few heartbeats the taller girl carefully put down the guitar, leaning the instrument against the side of the sofa and let herself fall on her back. 

“Nope.”

“You’ll need to explain that now.” 

Ellie’s sigh was completely exaggerated when she turned to Dina and there was a small grin on her face. She obviously was in a much better mood than yesterday.

“Oh. Do I now?” 

“Yea!”

Ellie chuckled and patted the space in front of her, gesturing for Dina to nudge closer until she could hug the shorter girl’s waist.

“Well... to start, hm… So, Joel did not adopt me right away, right? I mean, Joel was a police officer and all I was was a case file on his to do list. Kid has gone missing, he was supposed to bring the kid back. Mission accomplished. Case closed, right?” 

Dina was not sure whether or not she actually wanted an answer for that but nodded anyway.

“So,” apparently that’s how Ellie started her sentences when she was nervous, “I was at the hospital - nothing big happened I promise - it was just bruises and I might have been a bit thin. And the authorities decided that instead of going back to that family they’d send me to board school. They actually had my schedule ready in record time - probably because the police were involved, kinda.” Then, a pause, and Ellie began to draw patterns on Dina’s shirt nervously. “School in the mornings, therapy in the afternoon.”

“And you didn’t like that?” Stupid question. But Dina felt like she had to say at least something.

Ellie shook her head, a sheepish smile on her face. “That’s putting it mildly. I.. Don’t laugh, alright? At that time, I was afraid of being in a group of people or with new people or .. people general. Surprise: That’s what the therapy was for.”

“For how long did you have to do that?”

“It never came to that.” And for the first time ever since Ellie had began her story she looked away from Dina’s eyes and followed the movements of her fingers on Dina’s shirt instead. “When I heard that, I kind of.. snapped? I don’t remember exactly what happened.”

“They said I had some kinda panic attack or seizure or something, that I had been kicking and screaming and trying to run away again. And the next thing I know, Joel was there.”

Dina nudged even closer, effectively positioning herself in front of Ellie’s face, making it harder for the taller girl to look away and smiling at her girlfriend.

“What are you doing?” Ellie asked with a confused chuckle.

“Lightening the mood?” Dina offered and judging by the way the green eyes were gleaming it actually worked. “So tell me, what did Joel do?”

“He just held me. Like when he first found me. Told me therapy was a good thing. And offered me that I wouldn’t need to go to school if I agree to weekly sessions. So we made a deal.”

“Good decision.” 

“Yea. And then he pissed off the authorities by taking me in, oh, and Tommy.”

“What? Why is that?”

“Uh, to be continued?” Ellie asked with a sly grin and every protest from Dina was effectively silenced when she kissed her without any warnings. Well, not entirely silenced. There were still some muffled sounds of protests before Dina pulled back barely long enough to call her an idiot. Only to be pushed into the soft cushions of the couch with a grinning Ellie on top of her.

“No funny business in the living room.” Joel’s voice could be heard, followed by the sound of the front door closing.

“Joel!” Ellie protested like a child, reminding Dina a bit of her older sister, especially when she continued. “Dina called me an idiot.”

“She’s right then.” Joel said, and when Dina sat up she could see him undressing his jacket with the same calamity that Ellie was usually showing. “I told you so many times not to put an instrument on the floor, now get up and bring that guitar back to where you got it.”

Ellie’s pout was comical and Dina couldn’t help but giggle.

“Traitor.”

__________________________


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if there's still someone waiting for this, but if that's the case...  
> You're gorgeous and i'm sorry.
> 
> I do hope though that you'll like this chapter.  
> This marks the end of my first story and I'm incredibly thankful for all the people reading and commenting it.   
> <3
> 
> Maybe we'll see each other again in the future!  
> Stay safe!

__________________________

Sunday - week 12

It was still way too early in the morning when Dina’s pillow suddenly moved and shook with quiet laughter. “Nhhn, whash sho funny?” Dina mumbled, still half asleep, realizing that she once again had used Ellie as her pillow. The tall girl was laying on her back and Dina half on top of her, head on Ellie’s shoulder. 

Upon opening her eyes she was greeted with a way too bright screen of a smartphone. She tried to focus on what seemed to be a message from Jesse, a picture showing a meme with a mango or something. She quickly closed her eyes again with a groan. “Too bright.”

Ellie was still chuckling when her arm tightened around her for a second and she pulled Dina closer to kiss her temple. “Maybe try to sleep a bit more?” she offered, the amusement clearly audible in her voice.

“What time is it?”

“Few minutes past seven.” Way too early for a sunday.

“Mh.” Without any further comment Dina shifted in Ellie’s arms. Still half on top of her she found an even more comfortable position that only got better when Ellie’s free hand began to draw idle circles on one of her shoulder blades. With her nose buried in Ellie’s shirt everything smelled like home. Even though she was several hours away from her own home. 

It turned out that falling asleep again was proving to be harder than she would have thought. Which is why both girls decided to get up not even half an hour later.

Ellie was gathering milk, juice, bread and other breakfast supplies on the kitchen table. Placing the honey right in front of Dina, clearly remembering her preferences. “I’m kinda sorry that I made you come all the way here and we didn’t really do anything in the end.” 

Dina shook her head with a smile before reaching for a slice of bread. She had wanted to help Ellie set the table for breakfast but the taller girl didn’t let her help.

“It was nice to meet your family though.”

“... I guess.” Ellie answered, not sounding too sure, reaching for something in the fridge. 

Dina’s eyes fell on its door again. Or rather, on a familiar picture that she had seen quite a lot now but it still had her puzzled a bit. Joel and the blonde girl. Now that she had met Joel herself, it was clear that this picture had to be quite old since Joel looked a lot younger in it. So the girl had to be older now. Maybe as old as Ellie and herself? Maybe even older. 

Apparently Dina had stared at it long enough for her girlfriend to notice. Ellie's hands came into her vision as she adjusted the other pictures and notes around it so that absolutely nothing else even covered the even tiniest bit of the old photograph. Her brows furrowed as she seemed personally offended that the chicken teriyaki recipe dared to hang too close to the picture.

“You haven’t told me about her yet.” Dina said as she felt like she needed to explain her curiosity. “Is she part of the family?”

A short nod was all she got from Ellie before the taller girl checked the stairs on the other side of the room for any signs of Joel. 

“Her name was Sarah.” Looking back at Dina she explained in a quiet voice, “She was Joel’s daughter.” 

Was. 

Was. Oh.

Oh Shit.

What does one say in this situation?

Within a heartbeat Dina was on her feet, ready to hug Ellie but the taller girl gave her a small reassuring smile and reached for both of Dina’s hands, squeezing them. Again, as if Dina was the one in need of consolation.

“I’ve never met her.”

“Oh.” Honestly, she didn’t know what to say. Sorry? That’s sad? Did it make things better if they never met? God, she was lucky Joel wasn’t here right now. What could you possibly say to someone who had lost...Oh god.

“When I first learned about her…” Ellie began, looking down at their hands, “I felt like I was taking her place. I felt really bad because of that.” There was a short pause but before Dina could say anything Ellie continued. Her long fingers intertwined with Dina’s. 

“But Joel, he told me to think of her like a big sister. That she would have been proud to be a big sister. So, uh, that’s kinda what she is to me now.” 

When she looked up Dina again there was a smile on her face, honest, and a bit dreamy. “Now, stop looking so sad, will you?” 

  
  


__________________________

Monday - week 13

Their way home had been long and tiring as the train had reached the station a lot later than planned on sunday evening, Nearly unable to keep her own eyes open Dina had held onto Ellie blindly, never letting go of her hand. Normally, well, at least until now, Dina had never spent the night in Ellie’s small apartement when they had classes in the morning, but that night had become an exception. 

An exception that Dina wanted to happen more often.

Her usual morning was quite hectic as Dina had mastered the art of staying-in-bed-until-the-very-last-second perfectly and practiced her skill unwillingly every morning. Which then left her hurrying for class nearly every morning. 

Not today though.

Because today she was strolling down the streets with Ellie beside her as they still had enough time to reach the college even if they stopped for coffee. 

“Wow, look who’s here on time.” April joked happily when Dina took the seat next to her.

“I’m always here on time.” Dina grinned back. That was true. Though she always arrived maybe a minute before the class started or barely on time with the professor, but not 10 minutes early - like today.

“Yea sure.” April rolled her eyes and then her look became positively mischievous. “I take it Ellie is quite the morning person?”

Oh. You have no idea.

Dina nodded as she fished out her pens and a notebook from her bag. It was still the big bag she had packed for her visit in Jackson but she had left the extra clothes at Ellie’s apartment. She didn’t realize what other suspicion of April she had apparently confirmed with that until her friend spoke again.

“Spending the nights there even though you have classes in the morning. Mhhmm.” April hummed, and Dina nodded again, absentmindedly. This would probably end up in another “When will you move in?” joke that her friend used to make ever since Dina told her she practically lived with her girlfriend on the weekends. Dina had told her that she and Ellie tried not to mess up their sleeping schedule, which had them spending the nights together only on the weekends.

Dina would tell April next to anything. 

Nah. Scratch that.

She did tell her everything, and April would tell her everything in return. It was an unspoken agreement between best friends that existed from the day they met in high school and still remained to this day and probably would last forever.

Which was probably the reason for April’s next question.

“So, uh, what is it like? You know, having a girlfriend?” Her eyebrows wriggled and Dina blushed.

“April.” 

“Oh come on, Dina.”

“Not here.” she defended looking around where the room was slowly filling with students.

“If you don’t want people to know you shouldn’t kiss her in front of the building where everyone can see you!” she laughed as Dina had obviously forgotten about that little detail.

Another advantage of spending the night at Ellie’s: 

‘Have-a-good-day-kisses’ instead of ‘Have-a-good-day-texts’.

“Yea, but…” Actually there was no ‘but’. April was right, uh, damn. Her friend nudged as close as the chairs of the room would allow. Speaking a lot more quietly this time. “Come on, tell me?”

“Why is that important? You’re interested in girls now?” Since when was Dina evasive when talking to April? Her brows furrowed thinking about her own reaction. Maybe because it was about Ellie? Somehow, as long as Ellie was concerned, normal rules didn’t apply anymore and Dina turned awkwardly possessive.

“I mean, I don’t know? Kinda, maybe...” April started with a shrug, choosing to ignore the change in Dina’s behaviour. “You’re obviously pretty happy at the moment. So maybe?” she shrugged.

“I am. I am happy.” Understatement of the century. 

A short pause in their conversation had Dina scribbling little stars next to the date she had already written in the top left corner of her page. “And you don’t, uh,” April was now so close that their heads were nearly touching as she whispered. “... miss something?”

“... miss something?” Was she supposed to miss Jesse?

“You know like…” she could practically hear the grin in her voice. “ … anatomic- Ow! Dina!”

“That was your own fault!” she exclaimed, her cheeks red and a hand pressed to her own temple as her head had shot up so quickly, that she bumped into April. How could she address that topic like, right here during class?!

“I was just curious.” Her friend pouted, rubbing her forehead. “You just overreacted!” Her pout slowly turned into a giggle. “You should have seen your face though!”

“Oh, shut up.”

__________________________

Tuesday - week 14

Ellie getting into fights was no news to Dina. It happened every so often. She knew of a few fights when she was with Jesse and now she saw the traces of those and more recent fights every once in a while. 

It never had been anything big.

A scratch. A small bruise. The split lip was probably the most prominent injury she saw so far. Not counting that one fight with Jesse when Ellie had received that little scar in her eyebrow that was still refusing to heal completely. 

Today had Dina actually scared. Not of Ellie, but because of how hurt Ellie was. After her studying session with April, she had found Ellie in the middle of the campus. Completely ignoring the soft rain, even though these tiniest drops felt cold as ice on Dina’s cheeks. Ellie’s face was expressionless, the freckled cheek full of small scratches and a bit of dirt. Her green eyes focused on her left hand which was swollen to nearly twice its size and slowly turning blue on her little finger’s knuckle.

“Ellie?” Dina asked.

“It hurts.” Was all Ellie answered. Calmly, as if she was describing a colour to Dina. 

She didn’t protest in the slightest when Dina promptly took her to a nearby doctor’s office. As they found out later she had strained her wrist badly – as well as two broken fingers.

The doctors were quick to calm them down, well, to calm Dina down since Ellie sat there like a statue. Given the right treatment, it should heal fairly quickly. That included moving them as little as possible for the time being. But the words didn’t seem to reach Ellie at all as she was staring at her left hands with a constant frown on her face even as they walked out of the building. The bandages should keep her from bending her wrist and moving her fingers but Dina could see the taller girls muscles flex just the tiniest bit underneath.

“You should stop that.” Dina said softly and Ellie nodded slowly, letting her hand fall to her side. 

“Let it heal properly.” Another nod. The silence made Dina feel a bit awkward. Ellie was never a person that talked a lot but not talking at all was also not like her. 

“It’s good it’s the left one, huh?” At this point Dina was just rambling nervously. “At least you can still take notes in class like this. And it’s too cold to ride the bike anyway.” 

Another nod. Ellie was looking at the bandages again. 

__________________________

Thursday - week 14

The silent version of Ellie made Dina worry. Especially when her girlfriend continued to be like that for the next few days. That wasn’t the only thing Dina had noticed either. Maybe Dina was overprotective at this point, maybe she was imagining things, but did Ellie lose weight? Or did Ellie sleep at all? The dark circles under her eyes clearly said no.

She had asked Ellie if she was in a lot of pain twice already but she had received only a shrug and the cryptic answer “That’s not the problem.”

“Hey.” Dina cooed softly, as they met after class like usual. She could see Ellie’s lip curling upwards slowly in a pleased smile when she spotted Dina. But the dark circles under the green eyes damped the happy expression a lot. Dina’s hands found the taller girls waist, and she turned her body to face Dina to hug her wordlessly. With just one arm. The injured hand hanging at the side of her tall body. They held each other silently.

“Talk to me. Please.” This had to stop. This silence had Dina drowning in worry. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just… tired.” 

Haaah. That was an understatement if she ever heard one. “You look like a zombie.” Dina said when she couldn’t stop herself. “Uh, no offense.”

To her great surprise Ellie chuckled. Just the tiniest bit. But she did. “I feel like one.” 

She hugged her tighter until Ellie finally wrapped her second arm around Dina’s shoulders. “If I can help you, in any way you tell me, right?” Dina mumbled into Ellie’s jackets as she feared that moving her head would prompt Ellie to loosen her hug. “I promised to be there for you, remember?”

She felt Ellie nod above her. The way they clung to each other felt more desperate with every second.

“You’re amazing, Dina.”

__________________________

Exactly at midnight Dina’s phone vibrated. 

Ellie. 

Calling her. 

Never before was Dina so emotionally confused from a call she had yet to accept. Happy, that Ellie called. Afraid as to why she was calling. Hoping that she was alright.

Dina grabbed her phone quickly, answering the call as fast as possible.

“Ellie.” Ever since when was a name actually a way of saying hello? Was that a normal thing to do?

“Dina.” Alright. As long as Ellie did the same everything was good. Hearing Ellie say her name was always good.

“Can’t sleep, huh?” she tried cautiously. It was no secret that Ellie did not sleep well the last few days, so if she finally decided to call Dina now it was probably a bit worse than just a hard time falling asleep.

“Yea.” Ellie admitted, and after a pause added, “I, uh, I didn’t want to keep you from sleeping, I just, maybe we can talk, like, just a bit? I just wanted… to hear you.”

Dina was biting her lip, trying to stop the smile from appearing. Ellie was hurting, that was not the time to be happy. Even if her words were oh so sweet.

“I mean, I told you everything about my day earlier today.” She heard a discouraged sigh at the other side, “but I could read to you?”

“... Would you?”

“Sure.” Her bed squeaked as she got up and headed to the only bookshelf in her dorm room, one of her fingers stroking over the spines of the books. “I don’t have a lot to choose from though.” Most of her books were for studying after all.

“I don’t mind. Anything.” It didn’t matter. She could probably read the dictionary to Ellie right now and it might help the other girl. That thought now really made her smile against her previous determination not to do so in this situation.

“How about Potter then? You know the third one’s my favorite.” She pulled the book out of the shelf and wanted to head back to bed when she spotted her bag. She hesitated for all but a second before she put it into her bag - together with everything she might need tomorrow.

“Really? The third one?”

“Yea. Why not?” Her phone between her ear and her shoulder she put on her shoes, every movement quick but quiet.

“I mean, it’s good an’ all but… ” How can anyone sound so tired and still want to argue about a book?

“What’s your favorite then?” The front door closed behind her and she headed for Ellie’s apartment.

“Uh… ” 

It took Ellie nearly ten minutes to realize that Dina was - in fact - still not reading. Her timing was nearly perfect, maybe a bit too early since Dina had just reached the right street.

“I mean you don’t have to.” Ellie quickly added.

“Oh, I will.” Dina hummed. “I’m, hm, just - just getting ready.” There, the apartment building.

“Getting ready? To read?”

“Yea. I thought I could make this more… personal?” 

“I don’t under- “ she could hear the doorbell ring on Ellie’s side of the call. And then there was silence. Utter silence. One heartbeat. Two. Three. “...don’t tell me. Dina, you didn’t -”

“Mh hm.” A mechanical sound told her that the door to the staircase had been unlocked and Dina climbed the stairs to the first floor to see a still very surprised looking Ellie standing in the doorframe. The phone in her hand, hanging at her side. She pulled the shorter girl inside as soon as she could reach for her without leaving her spot. Her phone was tossed onto the first flat surface she found and she held her close in a bone crushing hug.

“Are you out of your mind? It’s the middle of the night!”

“...Yea really? Didn't notice.” Dina joked, not sure how to react.

“You can’t just... Did you walk here? At this time? It’s fucking cold outside, Dina! And it’s night time! What if anything- “

“Nothing happened. And I was talking to you the entire time.”

“... Why did you do that?” Ellie sighed in exhaustion.

“You’re not happy to see me?”

“I am. Very.” If possible, her hug just got even tighter. “So happy.”

“That’s your answer then.”

  
  


__________________________

A few minutes later they were both sitting on the broad bed after Dina changed into more comfy clothes. Ellie shoved the laptop she had been using previously into the top corner of the bed and Dina caught a glimpse of the screen before it was turned off. An acoustic guitar cover. 

“You can still listen to music if you want, you know.” 

“Uh, no. That was just me trying something.”

Dina was about to ask if Ellie was trying to play that song when she realized that Ellie was currently not able to play anything. With her wrist bandaged and unable to bend and her fingers equally unable to move she wasn’t even sure if Elllie could hold her own guitar properly.

Her precious guitar. That she played everyday. That she claimed was calming her with every sound.

“What did you try?”

“Ah. Just killing the silence.” She shrugged it off, but just the fact that this topic seemed to be embarrassing for Ellie told Dina enough. The guitar was a lot more important to Ellie than she had thought originally. She nodded in understanding. 

“Do you still want to…?” Dina waved with the book in her hand and watched a small smile spread on Ellie’s lips.

“Absolutely.” 

The rest of the night was short but comfortable. Ellie was pressed against Dina, clung to her smaller body like a toddler to a teddy bear. Her face was buried between Dina’s breasts and while that may have been considered weird under different circumstances, Dina knew it was just soothing for Ellie right now.

Truthfully, Dina was not allowed to complain - and god knows she didn’t want to - as she had used Ellie as her personal pillow many times. She knew from first hand experience that the heartbeat and the soft vibrations of the voice in her chest were indeed very calming sounds.

Her free hand was combing through Ellie’s hair as she read chapter after chapter until she was definitely and absolutely sure Ellie was asleep - and an extra fifteen pages, just in case.

In the end Dina had a little more than four hours of sleep when the alarm went off but one happy smile and a very strong hug from Ellie were enough to decide that it was worth it. So worth it.

__________________________

  
  


The following weeks had Dina basically moving in with Ellie. She didn’t spend a single night back at her dorm, there suddenly was a great amount of her clothes in Ellie’s closet that had moved here but by bit. Their morning routine was perfectly developed after the first week and even April profited from the change as Dina would always arrive a few minutes earlier and they shared a coffee and whatever stories they had to tell each other.

The biggest improvement was Ellie though. While Dina had been worried that she was taking away too much of the other girl's personal space and time it turned out quite the opposite. Dina wasn’t sure if the amount of time they spent together was still considered a healthy relationship, but it was the best relationship she could ever imagine so that thought had been dismissed quickly.

Ellie was back to being Ellie again. Her strong and confident self. Standing tall, showing off. Bantering with Jesse, being close to Dina whenever possible. Though apparently ‘teasing April’ could now be added to the list of things Ellie liked. Because ever since Ellie found out how much Dina’s bubbly best friend was annoyed by those short answers Ellie tended to give, well, she did just exactly that. Even more often. Ellie fighting against the smile to appear whenever she managed to make April sigh in annoyance was probably one of the funniest expressions Dina had ever seen.

Not exactly how Dina had envisioned those two to get along, but better than nothing. 

Jesse was the only one making himself a bit rare in her life, but Ellie told her that he was training a lot with that new team he joined weeks ago and that Dina shouldn’t underestimate how important that was to him. She had nodded then, but did not understand that statement until much later. 

__________________________   
Thursday - week 20

Today Ellie would finally get rid of her bandages. Which meant today was the first day in a long time that Dina didn’t meet with Ellie immediately after class. Her appointment was in the afternoon and she did not know yet when she’d be done with it.

Dina did not feel like going back to her dorm. She had barely spent any time there in the last weeks, unfortunately April had other plans this afternoon though and that left her wandering the grounds of the college alone. 

Eventually she sent Ellie a short message telling her where she’d be waiting when she nearly dropped her phone as someone hugged her from behind.

“Hey, Dina!”

“Oh, Jesse! How about a little warning next time, huh?” She huffed and quickly hit the send button before turning towards him. “Nice seeing you though.”

His arm was still draped across her shoulders as he laughed. “Yea, nice seeing you, Dina. And without Ellie for once, wow.”

“Actually,” she grinned, knowing he was just joking, “I’m waiting for her right now.”

“Do you guys actually take a break from each other, like, ever?” Jesse rolled his eyes and received a light punch from Dina as she wriggled out of his hold.

“Oh, shut up.” She tried to sound annoyed - she really tried to. But part of her was just too happy that she still had such a good friend in Jesse even after their break up. He was a good person, after all.

They hadn’t met with each other for a long time and when Jesse offered paying for a coffee Dina didn’t complain in the slightest. The cold weather had her fingers freezing and the warm paper cup felt heavenly in her hands. Leaning against one of the college buildings Jesse told Dina some little stories and things that happened while training in his new team and complained how Ellie hadn’t hung out with him in the last few weeks.

“Speaking about your friendship with Ellie… ” Dina eventually interrupted his rambling, looking at the paper cup in her hands rather than focusing on Jesse. It was still half full with coffee and steaming slightly. “I’ve been wondering, uh, how the two of you have met?”

“Oh. That… huh.” Jesse’s voice sounded hesistantant and upon looking up Dina found him scratching his neck nervously with one hand. “That’s not the coolest story, to be honest.” If that was meant to stop Dina from being curious it didn’t work. At all. It had quite the opposite effect really.

“What? Why’s that?” 

“You know I’m good at school, right? Like super good?” He winked with a grin and Dina rolled her eyes jokingly.

“Yeah, you really fit that asian prejudice very well.”

“Exactly. It’s kinda cool now, but in middle school, it really wasn’t.” When he scratched his neck again Dina realized that he might feel embarrassed about that. She wondered why they never spoke about this when they were still a thing. Did he not trust her enough? Had she not been interested enough? 

“I had a hard time making friends in middle school. No, wait, no. That’s not true. Actually. I did not have friends at all at first. It was when my grades dropped because of that, because of me starting to dislike school that my mother decided that she had to intervene.”

Dina did not know too much about Jesse’s parents as she had only met them a few times and only had very brief conversations with them - if any - but she knew that Jesse moved out as soon as possible. That he didn’t feel right at home with his parents. That his mother would always put pressure on him no matter what he did. Her brows knitted. “What did she do? She couldn’t force people to be friends with you.” 

“Ah. No. But she could try to make me feel better about myself.”

Dina waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. Jesse looked only down at Dina with an expression she couldn’t read. His head slightly leaned to the side, the ghost of a smile on his lips, his dark eyes focused on her. As if he was waiting for something. Her brows furrowed even further when it dawned her that he was waiting for her to connect the dots. That he was expecting her to understand everything with the limited information she had.

But how? All she knew was.. Little Jesse had been sad that he had no friends, and his mother certainly did not seem like a person that could cheer up a kid. But there are professionals for this kind of stuff and this was supposed to be the story of how he had met Ellie, right?

“... Therapy?”

His answer was a short nod. “Didn’t really help in the end, well, not really. But one day my mother was late picking me up. So I was waiting in the lobby with Ellie. Had never met her before though and I don’t remember how it started but then we had a fight. About who was the best character in a comic book. And she hit me. Just like that.” His index finger counted ‘one’. 

“I shoved her off her chair.” His middle finger joined to count ‘Two.’ 

“She threw all the waiting room magazines at me.” His ring finger. ‘Three.’

“Actually, I don’t remember exactly what else followed but the room was a mess, and we were laughing. My mother was furious when she finally arrived, but that was the most fun I had in weeks.”

Jesse smiled while telling her that part and Dina felt her own lips curl when she tried to imagine that scene. While he had called it ‘not the coolest story’ earlier it still seemed to be one of his fondest memories. 

“She became the new kid in school a few months later. I was her friend. She was my friend. And the rest of the kids didn’t matter. My mother hated her. She had a foul mouth, she would eat her food with her hands occasionally, she would punch me ever so often, she was the main reason for any ripped pants or dirty shirts, but in the end we were best friends. Still are. The best kind of best friends.” He finished proudly.

“I’m kinda sorry we never talked about that.” Dina admitted. Now, it made much more sense why he was so happy to train with a team. Why doing things with his teammates had such a high priority for him.

“Nah. It just never came up.”

“I should have.. I don’t know… ”

“Don’t you worry about that.” Jesse ruffled her hair, obviously making sure it turned out as messy as possible. “To be honest, the more I look at you with Ellie, the more I feel like… we weren’t as serious as that, were we?”

Dina bit her lip as she felt bad admitting that he was right, and shook her head slowly. “No. Ellie is.. I don’t know. There’s nothing that can compare to her. I mean, what we had was… “

“... was nice.” he finished when Dina was still fishing for words. “It was nice but nothing more.”

“That describes it pretty good I guess.”

Jesse nodded knowingly. “It was nice to just have a girlfriend, you know?” Not her specifically, just a girlfriend. Someone to call his girlfriend. But she couldn’t fault him, maybe it was very similar to her own thoughts back then. It was just nice not being alone. To call someone hers. Even if there were not those incredibly strong feelings behind it she now felt for Ellie. 

“Yeah,” Dina agreed with a smile as she now felt kind of the same when thinking back. 

“And it certainly helped that you are ..well.. pretty.”

“Wow, was that a compliment?” Dina joked softly hitting his upper arm. Jesse grinned. It was nice to be so close again, as friends. 

Dina taking the last sip of her coffee she threw the paper cup in the next bin. Jesse was about to leave when Dina pulled him into a warm hug. “It was nice talking to you again, we should do that more often.”

“Yeah, sure. Just shoot me a message or anything.” He chuckled. “Though I have the strange feeling that we have to include Ellie in everything we plan. Judging by her look she’s not entirely happy with us so close.”

Dina’s head turned around in record time, where Ellie was waiting a few feet away. Her bandage now missing. “Come here.” Dina said extending one arm in Ellie’s direction motioning her to join them. “Group hug?”

“Don’t wanna hug that idiot.” Ellie said with the smallest hint of a pout as she wrapped both her arms around Dina’s waist. Pulling Dina towards herself possessively. 

__________________________

She wore her favorite long sleeve sleeping shirt today. A soft dark red fabric hugging her frame comfortably and tightly from her shoulders to her wrists. But the soft fabric, the beautiful colour and the comfortable fit were not the only reasons why she liked it so much. She especially liked it because Ellie told her that she looked beautiful while wearing it.

So, she wore it for Ellie. And judging by the way Ellie fingers were travelling up and down her arms, and her eyes followed their movement, it seemed she approved. 

  
  


“Why is playing the guitar so important to you?” Ellie instantly shrunk in her position as soon as the words had left Dina's mouth.

“Well..” When the taller girl started to avoid eye contact again Dina crawled closer. The mattress shifted with her every movement until she sat down on Ellie’s lap, straddling her. Now, being just that tiny big taller than her girlfriend in this position Dina looked down into green eyes that were focused on her - just like dina had wanted her to. Ellie’s hands found Dina’s thighs and she could feel the girl's fingertips drawing nervous little patterns on her skin right under her sleeping shorts. 

“Well?” Dina asked softly, small hands locking behind Ellie’s neck, brown eyes never breaking eye contact. Ellie took a deep breath, sighed softly, and let her head fall down to rest on Dina’s shoulder. There was a long silence but for some reason that she couldn’t explain Dina was sure that Ellie would talk eventually. 

“You remember… when I said I ran away?” 

_ Wait, that story? Now? _ “Yes. Yes, I remember.” Dina answered cautiously, hand softly tugging at Ellie’s hair as she wanted to look at her, but it had rather the opposite effect as Ellie pressed her face into the crook of Dina’s neck more firmly.

“I kinda.. thought that it’d be easier. Living on the streets I mean. But, shit, I was wrong.” She shook her head, some strands of her hair tickling Dina’s skin. Her voice was quiet but she seemed calm. But that could be so very deceiving when talking about Ellie. Seeing her face would be so much easier, her eyes were terrible liars. Maybe that was the reason she was hiding her face in the first place.

“So wrong. I had no food, no shelter and no one would let an eleven year old work for them. But… but I didn’t want to go back.” She could feel Ellie’s fingers digging into her skin a little bit.

“And then Joel found you?” Dina guessed, hoping that was the end of the story. She cursed her curiosity. Maybe she just liked the guitar. Maybe there was no reason for that. 

But there was. Everything that Ellie did and liked seemed to have a reason. While she had been a bit odd and mysterious to her at first Dina had learned over the past few weeks that no human being made more sense to her than Ellie. Her hand massaged Ellie’s neck, trying to get some of the tension out of her body but it didn’t seem to help in the slightest.

“No.” A mumble, barely audible.

“No?” Oh no.

“Someone else… did find me. And I knew, kinda, instinctively, whatever, I knew that he meant bad business. I knew it, Dina. Somehow. I knew it. And I tried to get away. I really tried. But he was stronger than me and everyone around me just, just… the people around me just looked away and-”

“Ellie - “ she was rambling. Ellie was rambling, that was a first. 

“- I don’t know what his plan was, what he would do. But, but he threw me in a room, there were no windows just- ”

“Ellie.” Dina tried again, more loudly this time. Pulling her back enough to look at her. She looked stressed but to Dina’s surprise there were no tears at all. Both hands cupping her freckles cheeks to keep her from hiding her face again, Dina tried to remember what she had said the first time Ellie needed to calm down. 

“Breathe.” Dina’s thumbs caressed her face gently. “You’re alright now, just breathe. I’m here.” Ellie nodded slowly and took a deep breath. Then shook her head in disbelief. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad I got you.” 

Dina couldn’t help but feel proud when the taller girl was visibly relaxing. To think she had that impact on her. “I’m here.” she whispered again and even saw the ghost of a smile on Ellie’s lips. 

“What happened then…? Dina asked carefully and saw Ellie’s little smile become a kind of embarrassed smile. “Nothing, actually.”

“It was just dark, and silent. I don’t know for how long I’ve sat there, maybe it was just a few hours. But it was.. I hate silence. If there are no sounds at all, I feel trapped. I... can’t really explain.” 

“I was scared.” Ellie admitted and searched Dina’s eyes for any reaction. As if she expected Dina to judge her because of that. To her Ellie was the strongest person in the world. No matter what she did or told her. The very fact that she just told her about her fear was proof of that, wasn’t it? Dina nodded only in understanding, combing a few strands out of Ellie’s face with her hand. 

“That’s why I like to play the guitar so much, or hearing Joel play the guitar, or Joel’s voice.” she admitted, looking down at her hands and back up at Dina again, a small smile now on her lips. “Or your voice. I… love hearing your voice, your heartbeat, your breathing.” 

Ellie had a talent to literally knock the air out of Dina’s lungs just with words alone. She didn’t know how ro respond to that. Dina bit her lip and smiled when she remembered how Ellie always knew when she woke up, only by listening to her breathing. 

“Sorry, that was weird?” Ellie concluded when Dina failed to answer anything for a few seconds.

“No! … I mean, no. No, it’s alright. Not weird. Not weird at all.” She gave Ellie a reassuring smile. “I’m just kinda really happy right now. Feel free to continue your confessions of love whenever you see fit.”

“Huuuh.” Ellie chuckled and Dina felt the tension leaving her body. 

Ellie’s voice had always been beautiful to Dina. But Ellie whispering against her skin was giving her goosebumps.

Sometimes Dina wondered if Ellie knew what her words did to Dina. Part of her was sure that the taller girl would always put much thought into her words, that she was carefully choosing what to say. So she must have known, right? Because right now, her words had Dina’s skin burning.

“I love every part of you.” Ellie whispered a bit hoarsely. 

“ … Really?” How exactly Dina managed to answer was beyond her. Ellie’s words tickling the skin of her neck, the occasional soft kiss pressed there, and the way her thighs were caressed the entire time, everything was already feeling far too perfect. No matter how curious and creative Dina’s mind usually was, her brain refused to imagine any other situation right now.

“I’m all yours.” She breathed and she instantly felt teeth softly digging into her skin as Ellie apparently let her desire overtake her a bit more than usual. That was new. This sensation was so new but so welcome and Dina ran her hands over Ellie’s shoulder, her back, her arms.

Both hands at the hem of Dina’s shirt, the smaller girl could feel Ellie’s fingertips grazing her skin ever so slightly as the fabric was lifted upwards incredibly slowly. Up her stomach, her ribs, slowly inch by inch before Ellie’s hands came to a halt, green eyes never leaving Dina’s as she was just a little move away from revealing her breasts. 

Dina wasn’t sure why Ellie had stopped. Gods, she didn’t want her to stop. She wanted her to continue. Her heart was racing in anticipation, every beat echoing in her ears, her breathing had picked up a similar speed and Dina was sure that her voice couldn’t be trusted right now.

She raised both arms above her head, like a child waiting to get undressed, effectively coaxing Ellie to continue.

Dina could see Ellie’s jaw set and a mischievous gleam in her eyes before she felt Ellie’s knuckles grazing the side of her breasts. She closed her eyes for a second as the shirt was pulled over her head, up her arms. But, Ellie stopped again when the entire fabric was accumulated at Dina’s wrists, pulling her hands behind the shorter girl’s head.

Her brown eyes opened slowly to find her looking at Dina intensely. Still looking at her face. Trying to read her expression. Waiting for Dina to complain. Not that she actually would. God knows, she enjoyed this far too much. Biting her lip in anticipation seemed to be the perfect reaction as it prompted Ellie to continue. 

One of Ellie’s hands let go of her shirt, travelled along Dina’s arms, barely touching her skin, but just enough to drive Dina crazy. Along her upper arm, her armpit, her collarbone. Ellie’s eyes focused on the path her hand took, until she finally reached Dina’s breast. Sotftly cupping it, her thumb stroking over her sensitive nipple. 

Dina whimpered. Too soft. Why was Ellie always so god damn careful? She had all that strength and muscles and her touch was as light as a butterfly’s. Dina couldn’t even complain, she couldn’t even beg for more, not with the way the taller girl was looking at her right now. So clearly admiring the view. As if Dina was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” she whispered in awe. Dina didn’t realize that Ellie had completely let go of her wrists until she felt both of Ellie’s hands cupping her, squeezing her breasts gently. She felt the small hairs on her arms and neck rise as an immediate response, and the needing whine threatening to leave her throat was silenced by Ellie kissing her.

Ellie didn’t waste a second to taste her tongue, and Dina didn’t waste a second to wriggle her hands out of her shirt, letting it drop to - well, somewhere, was that really important? - and finally buried her hands in Ellie’s hair, kissing her back hungrily.

She wasn’t as patient as Ellie. She didn’t know how Ellie could be. When Dina got hold of the hem of Ellie’s shirt and didn’t feel any resistance from the taller girl she pulled off the clothing in record time. Throwing it away in a quick motion without the slightest care as to where it would land. The soft chuckle she felt against her neck only a second later told her that Ellie approved.

Ellie kissing along her neck and collarbone had her mindlessly following the soft pushes against her shoulder until she was laying on her back, a grinning red head above her. Green eyes were fixed on hers as a finger travelled along her, body teasingly slow, downwards. Dina’s back arched into her touch, but it left her skin far too soon, instead pulling at her waistband a moment later, making her intentions clear.

“Trust me?”

A whimper and several wild quick nods were everything Dina could manage.

  
  


__________________________

Friday - week 20

“So, just so you know, I won’t miss it.” Dina said to April as they left her class as a matter of greeting. Since Dina had barely arrived on time for the class to start (once again) they had yet to talk to each other. Even though Dina did not give her any more information, it all but took two seconds for April to understand what the dark haired girl was referring to. Her eyes lit up instantly and she grabbed Dina’s hands excitedly.

“I. Need. The. Details. All of them. Now.” April ordered as she pulled Dina with her to sit on one of the small benches in front of the building. Barely knee-high stone benches without any form of back rest. Both girls sat down with the bench between their legs, their knees touching as April was still holding on both of Dina’s hands.

April looked at her expectantly and Dina could feel her cheeks warming up. The confidence she felt a few seconds ago slowly turned into slight embarrassment as she searched for words. 

Apparently she was too slow.

“Come on, Dina!” April pushed, eyes fixed on Dina’s face, squeezing her hands. Dina’s reaction clearly had added to her excited curiosity.

“I’m trying to!” Dina chuckled and nearly choked on her chuckle as long arms wrapped around her middle from behind.

“Trying what?” Thanks to the solid stone Dina did not notice Ellie sitting down behind her. Until now. Ellie’s arms wrapped around her frame, her chin resting on the smaller girl’s shoulder, her body pressed against Dina’s back and the dark haired girl leaned into her warmth on instinct. 

Still facing April, Dina could see her friend observing the two of them with interest before something behind Dina seemed to catch April’s attention, and having her sigh in mild annoyance, probably because her curiosity had to wait. Dina turned her head slightly to look at Ellie and was not too surprised to see Jesse standing a few feet away as well.

“Hey.”

“So what were you trying to do?” Ellie picked up the topic, curiously looking from Dina to April while both seemed a bit at loss for words. 

“Well,” April tried eventually. “We were kinda talking about you.” She explained, waiting for Ellie to get the hint. She didn’t though. 

“Huuh.” Ellie somehow managed to look confused and amused at the same time as she looked back and forth between Dina and April with slightly furrowed brows and half a smile. While Dina thought the expression was positively cute, it did not help at all. To her great surprise Jesse seemed to understand the situation a bit better.

“Hate to break it to you mate, but looks like you’re now officially banned from the girls talk.” he laughed. His hand patting Ellie’s shoulder with enough force for Dina to feel the motion as well. 

Ellie let out a soft sigh as she entangled herself from Dina a tad unwillingly. Her hands squeezed the shorter girl's waist one last time before letting go and a soft kiss was placed against Dina’s neck. Without a care in the world who might see them. “Later then.” 

Part of Dina wanted to apologize but when she turned to look at Ellie the taller girl was already getting up. Green eyes looking down at Dina and a gentle smile on Ellie’s lips did wonders to reassure Dina that everything was fine already. She gave a short nod before she joined Jesse and the two of them walked away, probably already heading to the small park on the campus. It was friday after all.

She saw rather than heard as Jesse made some stupid comment, because Ellie’s reaction was to shove him away with both hands. Followed by an exaggerated gesture that had her pointing her index finger at Jesse with an incredibly straight posture, kind of like a comic character. Jesse threw up his arms as he let out his inner drama queen. 

Dina smiled. Maybe their friendship made sense. If they were still stuck at age thirteen.

“Soooooo?” April queried with a big grin. 

Dina looked at her best friend, her own expression very similar to April’s grin, accompanied by slowly blushing cheeks.

“You’re not gonna believe me.”

“That good?”

“Perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
